A FARM'S controversial plan to deal with silage has received 13 objections from nearby residents.

Swang Farm in Cannington has been run by the Roe family since 1914, and the owners, who also run Cannington Enterprises Ltd, have applied for 'retention of a concrete silage base, two drainage lagoons and banks which screen the site from view'.

A silage clamp is a large silo or pit with high walls where cut green vegetation is compressed to purge as much of the oxygen as possible. At Swang Farm, Cannington Enterprises Ltd ensile maize and sugar beet.

While an application for the silage clamp was priorly approved in 2015, Sedgemoor District Council say the 'provision of concrete retainers on the clamp' went beyond what was agreed, although the applicants dispute this.

Given works had gone on at the site which Sedgemoor District Council say could be considered outside the parameters of 'permitted development', the council encouraged the Roe family to submit a new application for the development in its entirety.

The chairman of Spaxton Parish Council, Simon Stretton, has objected to the plan saying there are still issues regarding the number of agricultural vehicles from the site through the village.

Ward councillor Mike Caswell also objected, saying: "I am firmly against this application, it is industrial and has no place in the countryside."

Fellow ward councillor Julie Pay added: "You only have to travel along the main A39 to smell for yourself the

odour which is very offensive. I strongly believe that this is no longer an agricultural operation but in fact is now an industrialised process I would recommend that the development committee have a site meeting and walk along Splatt Lane to see for themselves the number of tractors and trailers."

The Campaign to Protect Rural England has also objected, stating: "In the interest of proper planning control it is vital that no developer is seen to gain advantage in the planning process by carrying out works prior to

obtaining the necessary permissions."

Lawyers representing the Roe family argue that the only part of the development the council has the right to consider is the 're-locatable sectional concrete crop retainers, and nothing else', and whether this is granted or not it would not affect the number of trailer movements required.

The matter will be decided by Sedgemoor District Council's development committee at a meeting on Tuesday, August 29.