Arla Foods Ltd v Persons Unknown, 2024 WL 03597159 (2024)
24. There are 5 vehicular access points to the Site: (1) Chequers Way, which is an adopted highway. There is a swing gate at the access point which is left open to facilitate HGV access. Inside the access point HGVs can turn left to access the dairy's intake or straight on, in which case they encounter a barrier preventing access to the rest of the Site, which is operated by a swipe-card and intercom system. (2) There is a second access point off Chequers Way, which can be used by cars, larger vehicles and small trucks but not for tankers, trailers or larger vehicles. It is accessed through a swing gate, which is left open to facilitate access to the Site, and just inside the gate is a barrier and pedestrian access point which require swipe-card access or use of the intercom to contact the Site's security staff. (3) There are two vehicle access points from Owen Road, which is a public highway: one facilitates inbound traffic and the other outbound traffic. They utilise a barrier requiring swipe-card access or use of an intercom to speak to the Site's security staff. There is also a pedestrian turnstile. (4) There is a vehicular access off Ostliffe Road, a highway, which utilises a barrier requiring the same measures to enter as set out above. This access is used only as an exit point and almost exclusively as the HGV exit, although temporary use can be made as an exist for all vehicles. 25. Aside the measures set out above, there is a security building on the site, vehicle barriers operate automatic number plate recognition cameras, all entry and exit points are covered by CCTV and monitored by security staff, and one vehicular access pointt is closed between 7pm and 7am to minimise disruption to local residents. 26. The First Claimant holds freehold title to the Leeds Site. The Site actually comprises two sites: the Stourton dairy and Arla's national distribution centre. The two sites are next to each other, linked by an inter-site gate, such that they form one large site. 450 Arla employees work at the dairy, along with 150 embedded contractors for various services, and the distribution centre employs 405 staff. The dairy processes just over 750 million litres of milk each year. It is the third largest dairy in the UK and Arla's second largest dairy, the Aylesbury Site being the largest. The dairy accounts for around 7% of the UK's milk supply output. The dairy produces own label milk for supermarkets, Arla's branded Cravendale filtered milk, fresh creams, fermented creams, cottage cheese, custard, alcohol cream and milkshake and ice-cream sundae products. 27. Like the other Sites, the Leeds Site is busy with vehicular movements and relies on the same for the operation of its business. There are around 300 vehicular movements a day around the dairy and around 225 around the distribution centre. Most, if not all, of these vehicles will use the A639 and/or the M1 when travelling to or from the Site. There are four vehicular access points: (1) The distribution centre can be accessed from two points off Leodis Way, a highway, which are a few metres apart. One is the HGV entry and exit point and the second the entry and exit point to the car park that services the distribution centre, including for pedestrians. Access through the former is by barrier, controlled by a full-time manned security gatehouse. Access to the latter is by keycard- controlled automatic gate, and only be used to access the car park and not the rest of the site. (2) The dairy can be accessed at two points off Pontrefract Road, a highway. One is for HGVs and cars to enter, and the other, which is 200 metres away, is for their exit. One security guard is present in the gatehouse at the entrance, and the entrance and exit are controlled by keycard operated gates. 28. Each of the access points is well signed and utilise distinctive green fencing, so their location could be easily identified by protestors. Arla could, if the Pontefract Road access points were blocked, run its operation from the access points on Leodis Way. However, if all access points were blocked, operations would likely have to cease within a matter of hours, with the consequence that a significant volume of milk would be lost, and the distribution centre would have to cease operations within around two hours. 29. In addition to the security measures above, the dairy is surrounded by a security fence, most of its internal doors are keycard controlled, and around 75% of its internal areas are covered by CCTV. The distribution centre is also surrounded by a perimeter fence, has a significant CCTV system both externally and internally, and all staff at the distribution centre are issued with a security access card which must be used at strategic points of the site to allow access and to pass through the Site. Past animal rights protests at the Sites 30. There have been past animal rights protests at three of the sites: the Oakthorpe, Aylesbury and Hatfield Sites.
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