Knacker’s yard in ‘valley of the racehorse’ will spook animals with smell, trainers argue
‘I remember as a kid they had an abattoir, and when we rode our ponies past they got scared of it’
PLANS to build a knacker’s yard in an area known as the “valley of the racehorse” have been given the go-ahead despite claims that the animals would be spooked by its smell.
West Berkshire council granted permission for an equine crematorium to be situated on the former Old Wessex Saw Mill in Great Shefford.
Equine experts had claimed that the smell of carcasses would spook their prized animals in nearby Lambourn, which is home to more than 1,500 racehorses, but the Planning Inspectorate stated that the effect of crematoriums on nearby horses was “not substantiated”.
Its report stated: “I therefore can only attach very limited weight to these matters in my consideration of the proposal.”
The council had twice rejected the plans in the past three years. In 2014, J Passey and Sons, applied for permission to open an abattoir on the site, which was refused the following spring.
In 2016 the company’s submitted plans for an equine crematorium were again refused by West Berkshire council.
Residents of Great Shefford had fought against the proposals claiming their horses “know the smell”.
Henrietta Knight, who trained threetime Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate in the Lambourn valley, had strongly opposed the plans.
She said: “It’s amazing how horses do know. They know the smell, they know something’s going on.”
Mark Bradstock, the trainer of Cheltenham Gold Cup 2015 winner Coneygree, who is based in the Lambourn valley, also raised concerns over the knacker’s yard.
He said: “I remember as a kid they had an abattoir, and when we rode our ponies past they got scared of it. It was bloody difficult getting our ponies past it.”
The planned site will not carry out any animal killings, but will receive and store bodies, which will subsequently be incinerated.
Lambourn is home to several important stables, which mostly specialise in breeding colts for flat racing.
Celebrities, the Royal family and Arab oil millionaires have had horses stabled in the area around the valley, which is known as the “valley of the racehorse”.