Inhabitants of the Dutch hamlet of Marle are contesting plans for the intended building of two blocks of pig flats in their neighbourhood.
The concept of building ‘pig flat blocks’ is a plan by a cooperative called Family Farmers, based in the South of the Netherlands.
The apparent plan is to build two pig houses of 90 metres wide and 145 metres long and two storeys high. In both pig houses, about 19,000 animals could be held.
Action group A local action group has even been created, claiming that the plans will cause odour problems and increased lorry traffic; additionally, flora and fauna are thought to be affected if the pig houses will be built.
A municipal spokesman said that the cooperative had only ‘investigated’ into the possibilities of building the blocks in this village in the Eastern part of the country, but had also made enquiries elsewhere in the Netherlands.