Voted Best
7 - 13 March 2019
COSTA DE ALMERÍA YOUR PAPER, YOUR VOICE, YOUR OPINION CREDIT: Paul Griffin Facebook page
ISSUE NO. 1757
Newspaper in Spain 2017 & 2018
NUISANCE: Paul and Luisa claim the planned pig farm will create a smell, noise and flies.
Pig sick about farm plans By Cathy Elelman AN Albox couple are furious about plans to reopen a pig farm near their home. Paul Griffin and Luisa Fernandez claim the associated smell, noise and flies will be a stress-inducing nuisance and will devalue their property, which has been in Luisa’s family for five generations. The couple acknowledge the property was a piggery from the 1980’s up to some six years ago, but told the Euro Weekly News it looks likely to be sig-
nificantly bigger this time and will now be an intensive breeding operation. Other local residents also oppose the project, Paul and Luisa say, 350 people having signed their petition to stop it opening. Jenny Spear is one of the couple’s neighbours. Initially ‘nice little pig farm’ as before, alarm bells went off when she realised it was being enlarged. “From everything I’ve been told it’s not going to make the people living close to it very happy because there are going to be polluting smells and the
pigs are going to make a horrendous noise because they’re going to be battery,” a worried Jenny commented. Albox Town Hall Secretary Eva Cano insists the piggery plans are all in order. She told the Euro Weekly News it has the necessary permits and authorisation from the Andalucia regional government, which says everything in terms of land use, documentation and compliance with current regulations is correct. She did made it clear the council will check the farm activities are in line with the pig
breeding operation and works set out in the approved project. The ‘bad luck’ for Paul and Luisa is their home is close to land classified as ‘no urbanisable,’ Eva said, which she points out “is for agricultural, forestry or livestock use, hence this pig farm has its licence. “Anyone who lives very close to no urbanisable land has to be aware about the nuisances from land which is not for residential use.” Paul and Luisa have sought advice from groups lobbying against intensive pig farms.
WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM