200,000-chicken unit at Shropshire farm 'will cut food miles'
A poultry unit housing as many as 200,000 chickens could be built on a Shropshire farm.
Plans have been submitted for four poultry rearing buildings, a biomass building, 10 feed bins and other ancillary buildings, next to the A5 at Kinton Farm, Kinton near Nesscliffe.
Applicants Great Ness Poultry Farm Ltd say the development would play a part in cutting "food miles" as it would reduce the need to import foreign-produced poultry meat.
The planning application states: "On a global scale the development amounts to an expansion of the UK poultry meat production capacity and a step closer to meeting the rising demand for poultry meat in the UK and becoming self-sufficient in poultry meat.
"This reduces the need to import foreign produced poultry meat and thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel consumption in transportation of meat across the globe so called 'food miles'.
"The proposed poultry farm at Kinton Farm will provide continued diversity for the farm enterprise and ensure sustained economic growth in the rural area."
New access is also proposed to the poultry farm on to the existing Kinton Business Park access, which connects with the old A5 to Linton publicly adopted highway.
The applicants say there will be no significant effects on pedestrians, cyclists or traffic as part of this. They say the proposals have been "carefully prepared" to ensure that the development would have a minimal impact on the surrounding area, and generate a "minimal" amount of additional vehicular movements onto the surrounding highway network, through the use of a HGVs.
This application is the latest to be lodged by the firm, which in the past have been met with objections by the community.
Ann Chalkley, clerk to Great Ness and Little Ness Parish Council, said the council has not yet had chance to discuss the plans but she had applied for an extension for responses as their next meeting is on February 2 – three weeks after the January 12 deadline.
Mrs Chalkey said if an extension for comments was not granted, an emergency meeting of the council will be held to discuss the scheme.
