The Lincolnshire-based firm was served with the notice following a noise complaint from local residents, the source of which was a fan installed in one of the potato stores.
After a four-day trial, the district judge ruled that the council had acted unreasonably in serving the abatement notice, finding no statutory nuisance was caused, and determined that the council had failed to properly engage with the potato storage facility during the investigation process.
The judge ruled that the noise caused was not of a sufficient level to cause significant interference and the firm had been exercising ordinary use of its land by undertaking agricultural storage activities on land historically used for agricultural storage purposes in a predominantly agricultural area.
The potato storage facility was represented by the law firm Roythornes. Speaking after the decision was made, food and environment regulatory expert at Roythornes, Rebecca Ironmonger, said: “We’re very pleased to have represented our client in court and helped enable the business to continue carrying out its operations effectively.
“Not only were we able to secure the recovery of a proportion of our client’s costs through successful appeal, but we were also able to illustrate the importance of challenging enforcement action by regulators when that action seems to be contrary to common sense and adversely impacts business activity.
“In a proud agricultural area, we work hard to protect the interests of our farming clients and maintain the vital food supply which they work tirelessly to provide for everyone across the country. The potential financial implications for our client, not to mention the potential food waste issues of any future crop being lost, were vast – so this wasn’t just a win for the facility, it was a win for the industry.”
The allegation of statutory noise nuisance was first made following the period of wet weather in October 2023, which caused the potato crop harvested at that time to be so wet that the fans in the store needed to be on full power for the duration of the drying season.
Had this been determined a statutory nuisance, the storage facility would have been prevented from using the highest fan speed in the future.
Following the successful appeal in court, the firm said: “I would like to thank the Roythornes team for its expertise, helping to get the verdict we needed for the business. This decision is very important to our business, as existing and future crops could not be properly stored if the notice was upheld.”
