A CONTROVERSIAL pig farm in south Warwickshire could be shut down and replaced with housing.
Plans to close intensive pig farming operations and build ten homes at Hogwood Farm in Oxhill have been submitted to Stratford District Council.
The farm, which is located on the A422, between Banbury and Stratford, has been involved in rearing pigs since at least 1920.
Current owner Brian Hobill took over the farm in 1996 and invested in specialised pig-rearing buildings, earning the farm Red Tractor status and contracts supplying supermarkets with pork products.
In 2017, the farm was investigated by vegan charity Viva!, which later produced a documentary film about their findings titled Hogwood: A Modern Horror Story.
In the 2020 film, Viva! accused Hogwood Farm of “a catalogue of cruelty including extreme overcrowding, routine mutilation, sick and dying pigs abandoned in gangways, painful lacerations and live cannibalism”.
Following the release of the film, which was shown on Netflix and Amazon Prime, the farm has reportedly been the target of animal rights activists. It also lost its Red Tractor status and contracts to supply large supermarkets like Tesco.
Planning documents submitted to SDC state numerous break-ins to the pig buildings and many protests on the site, coupled with wider difficulties in the pig business in the UK, have had a major impact on the farm.
The documents also state that Mr Hobill had planned on retiring and handing over the business to his son, but his son “was so badly affected by the activists that he left the business and moved overseas”.
Attempts were made to sell the farm, which were unsuccessful, leading to Mr Hobill submitting plans to redevelop the site with homes in 2021.
After two planning applications were refused, Mr Hobill is said to have attempted to rebuild the business but struggled after he was unable to regain the Red Tractor status.
If the latest planning application is given the green light, Mr Hobill and his son, who has returned to the UK, will retain and farm the 73.6 hectares of arable land and woodland around the farm, but all pig farming at the site would end.
Juliet Gellatley, founder and director of Viva!, was understandably pleased.
She said: “This is what perseverance looks like. It’s undeniably a victory for the animals – one that belongs to every single person who stood outside those gates, shared our footage or simply refused to accept the status quo.”
