Nocton Dairies Ltd - review of meeting

New talks over Nocton super dairy farm

Having taken the trouble to attend the meeting organised by Nocton Dairies, I was very disappointed with the actual event.

Many vehicles had parked on the verges adjacant to the location, unable to access the site or choosing not to.  The BBC were in attendance with their outside broadcast team, doing a 'live' piece to camera.  People were otherwise milling about aimlessly in small groups, slowly making their way into the building.

I know it was an informal meeting, but once inside it was chaotic... people were crammed in with no explanation as to what to expect.  You didn't know if there was going to be a presentation... or a question and answer session... or whether you were just expected to wander around looking at the many pictures on the walls.  You didn't even know who was who... and particularly who to ask questions to.

There were photomontages of the proposed dairy site, showing perspective views of what the site looks like now (Base), projected views in Yr1 and what the site might look like in Yr15.  Well, I think that is what they were supposed to reveal... and it all seemed with a bit of artistic licence to me.

People were grouped around these photomontages trying to decipher what they were supposed to reveal.  There were even night-time views showing the potential light fall out from the development... but again these were very hard to decipher.

Two quite critical documents/plans were posted up... but were only in A4 size, not much use when one is trying to peer over others in a group.  These were an odour map and also a slurry spreading map showing area of dispersal. These two items were even smaller than the photomontages and I did wonder if this was a tactical move to keep the less desirable items in a smaller format, making them even more difficult to study.

Why weren't all the images in a much larger easily-viewable format so everybody could see detail, similar to the architects drawings of the cow accommodation?

For those people who did not know the applicants, how they were supposed to identify them was beyond me.  No name tags, no picture board, no introduction at any time as to the process for the consulation exercise... it was bizarre.  One just happened to bump into Mr Willes and Mr Howard as one circulated... only then could you manage to get some two-way dialogue.  A matter of chance.

All the while, there was a photo slide show on continuous rotation showing pictures of similar style cow accommodation, milking parlours, anaerobic digesters, machinery and tractor units and slurry scraping equipment and bowsers.  For those people who had not seen images like this or carried out research into these type of intensive dairy, I suppose this was useful for them to get an idea of what is going to appear on the Heath.

As I departed there was no questionnaire to fill in, nor was there even an exit poll.  In fact, the only people who seemed interested in my opinions were the BBC... at no time was I ever asked for my ideas or my views inside the meeting.  More importantly, I was unable to leave any thoughts on possible community benefits that Nocton Dairies could consider for the village of Nocton.

How did other attendees perceive this event I wonder?

My overall rating: 2/10

Lincolnshire Echo

Exit poll at consultation shows strong resistance to 8,100-cow super-dairy

Are you in Lincoln on Saturday 14th August?

If you are out and about in Lincoln on Saturday 14th August and wish to see an alternative 'protest' against the Nocton Dairy development, see below:

What: 'Protest Meeting'
Where: Castle Square, Lincoln
When: Saturday 14th August 2010
Time: 1.00pm.

I cannot give you any further information I'm afraid - the details were handwritten on a piece of A4 and passed on to me via a third party with the briefest of detail.