A CONTROVERSIAL plan to build an 18-acre abattoir on a greenfield site near the picturesque market town of Eye has been recommended for approval, it emerged last night.

A CONTROVERSIAL plan to build an 18-acre abattoir on a greenfield site near the picturesque market town of Eye has been recommended for approval, it emerged last night.

Mid Suffolk District Council planning officers have recommended the application for approval - but it would be bound by a long list of constraints including hours of working, size of buildings, landscaping and drainage and effluent management.

Councillors will now decide whether to give it the go-ahead next week.

Brothers Kevin and Chris Burrows of C&K Meats, of Brome, near Eye, want to build their abattoir, meat processing plant, offices and effluent lake on land on the B1117 at Yaxley.

They welcomed the news last night, but said they would remain cautious until final approval was given.

The brothers said the scheme would be “extremely animal welfare friendly”.

But there remains a concern about the scheme as costs have risen by an estimated 40% in the four years since the plans have been on the drawing board.

Dominic Richards, spokesman for the Stop Eye Abbatoir Campaign said the group would battle on to stop the abattoir being built.

He said: “They are saying it does not contravene planning policy. How on earth can they say that?”

He added: “We have obviously got to wait for the meeting next week and we hope we do not have to embark on a lengthy, time-consuming and costly High Court challenge, but if that's what we have to do then that's what we have to do.”

Mr Richards, owner of nearby Yaxley Hall, said: “I feel there is a very strong agenda to this, Mid Suffolk is very keen to push this through and all we can do is have faith in the wisdom of the planning committee when they come to discuss this next week.”

The campaign group is now working with leading London construction/planning solicitors, Pinsent Masons, who they say has warned Mid Suffolk they would be in breach of a number of planning policies if they approved the application on this site.

Mr Richards, who says campaigners have identified a number of viable alternative sites, said: “Alongside Pinsent Masons, we have also been working with the Environmental Law Foundation. On their recommendation, we have now instructed a specialist law firm, Earth Rights, whose expertise is taking this type of planning decision by local authorities to judicial review and successfully having them quashed.”

The application is due to be discussed at 9.30am on Wednesday, September 6 at Mid Suffolk District Council offices in Needham Market.