Arla Foods Ltd v Persons Unknown, 2024 WL 03597159 (2024)
13. I have not had the benefit of having the evidence tested by arguments from the defendants. However, having considered it carefully, I have no reason to doubt its veracity or accuracy, and I accept it. I set out the key points from its below.
14. To understand the actions that have occurred and the causes of action relied on, it is first necessary to understand in outline the layout of the Sites and their operation.
The layout and operation of the Sites 15. The First Claimant holds the freehold title to the Aylesbury Site. The Aylesbury Site is the largest dairy in the UK, processing around 10% of the milk in the UK. Therefore, it is a significant contributor to the UK dairy industry. 700 members of staff are employed at the dairy and it is very busy, such that free access to the Site is required at all times to ensure that operations at the dairy can run, and that the surrounding road network remains free-flowing and is not adversely impacted by operations at the dairy. Around 300 trucks enter and leave the dairy each day, consisting of 160 raw milk deliveries and 140 outbound departures. 16. The trucks that enter and leave the site are a mixture of tankers and other HGV lorries, and as the A41 is the only access road to the site, apart from Samian Way, all vehicles travelling to and from the site use this road. There are three access points to the site, Gatehouses 1 to 3, each of which serves a different function: one is used for raw milk intake and outbound exits, another for access to the employee and visitor car park and the third as the outbound access. All of the access points are from Samian Way, which is an adopted highway for which the local highway authority is responsible. Gatehouses 1 and 2 are manned, and Gatehouse 3 is unmanned but visitors enter using a swipe-card at the barrier or by ringing the intercom to make themselves known to the security staff. 17. Significant security measures have been put in place at the site since the anticipation of protests in September 2022. 18. The Second Claimant holds a 15 year lease to the Hatfield Site. Arla operates the Hatfield Site as a distribution centre, employing 500 staff there. The centre handles around 350 million kilograms of palletised food products and around 520 million kilograms of fresh milk, which is delivered direct to the stores of Arla's customers, mostly supermarkets. The centre processes a very significant proportion of the total milk supplied by Arla in the UK. It also stores and processes significant proportions of the UK's cheese and other dairy product supply. The Site is like the Aylesbury Site a busy one, with around 400 vehicular movements a day: around 180 inbound and 220 outbound. 19. Most if not all of these vehicles will use the A1001 and/or A1(M) when travelling to and from the Site. There are two vehicular access points to the Site, both directly off adopted highways maintained by the local highway authority. The first is Gypsy Moth Avenue, from which the HGVs access and exit the site. They travel a short way along a private road into the site before coming to a manned entry barrier. The second is Mosquito Way, where cars access and exit the Site from. That access is controlled by a barrier that is operated by a swipe-card and intercom system. Pedestrian access to the Site is located at the Mosquito Way access, next to the vehicle barrier, through a swipe-card and intercom operated turnstile. 20. The Site is staffed around the clock by a security team so that two people are always on duty, it is fully fenced and it is monitored by CCTV. 21. The First Claimant holds the freehold title to the Oakthorpe Site. It operates a dairy business at the Site, processing 350 million litres of milk every year and employing approximately 200 staff. It produces fresh milk, organic milk and fresh cream products for major retailers. It also produces fresh organic milk under its Yeo Valley brand at the dairy. 22. The Site is busy with vehicular movements, and relies on the same for the operation of its business. There are around 40-50 inbound HGV vehicles a day and around 50-60 outbound HGVs, together with the movement of around 10-20 other vehicles, such as contractors, goods deliveries and waste collections. 23. The Site is surrounded by a perimeter fence, although access is possible from the bank of Pymmes Brooke, which runs along the southern and eastern boundaries of the Site. It could in theory also be possible to access the site from neighbouring properties, but Arla considers that both of these routes would be incredibly challenging.
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