17/04/2012

It's the day of the district council planning meeting. Ruth's glad to get out, and avoid the lorries and cement as they lay the foundation for Brookfield's new slurry tank.
Pat meets Hattie Marshall and introduces her to Ruth. They clearly have lots of support. Brian and committee chair Kevin Townsend note this and expect hostility.
Hattie makes her statement, pointing out the threat to conventional dairy farmers. While highlighting environmental factors, including pollution, she says that cows will disappear from the countryside. It's fundamentally wrong to treat animals merely as economic units. As she fears accidental spillages into the river, Brian objects to this scaremongering.
Chief planning officer John Bagshaw recommends that the application should be approved, and Pat is disappointed when Esther Sutton supports it on economic and local employment grounds. Martin Sykes thinks she's been taken in by the hype and the DVD.
The highways officer is satisfied there won't be a significant increase in traffic, the building is an appropriate design, and there are no valid planning reasons for refusal. The committee votes to delegate the final decision to the chief planning officer in the light of the Environment Agency's report. Brian tells Radio Borsetshire he has every confidence there'll be a favourable outcome.