Village steps up egg farm planning fight

The Betton and Norton-in-Hales Action Group spoke about issues including traffic, habitat loss, water pollution and heritage at a recent public meeting at the Jubilee Hall, Norton-in-Hales.

The plans for the farm north of Betton have sparked more than a dozen letters of objection since being submitted in March, as well as a supportive letter from a farmers union.

This is the second time the application has been made, with the previous proposal being withdrawn in December.

'Serious risk'

Norton-in-Hales resident Anthony Heath said of the proposal: “Not only are we extremely concerned about risk of air pollution from the proposed unit over the village but also the serious risk to wildlife habitats of protected species such as otters and badgers living close by the proposed development site.”

The application by Rupert Chitty of Merlot Chitty Farms is for an agricultural building for 32,000 free laying hens in two 16,000 bird sections. The building would be olive green.

The action group appealed for everyone who made objections to the first application to re-submit their comments.

Resident Sarah Moulson wrote a letter of objection to say: "We are very proud of our status as Best Kept Village and Champion of Champions, Britain in Bloom awards.

Odour

"This proposed development makes a complete mockery of all the dedicated hard work that the members have put in. The flies, stench, noise and light pollution will ruin the landscape, break up and destroy the green corridor that approaches the village from Market Drayton."

A report by AS Modelling & Data to model the odour impacts of the development predicted that odour exposure at nearby buildings would meet the Environment Agency's standards.

The regional branch of the National Farmers Union (NFU) submitted a letter to support the application, saying free range eggs from "high welfare" farms are in increasingly high demand.

The letter from Sarah Faulkner of the National Farmers Union West Midlands branch said: "This building will be constructed in such a way to provide a high welfare environment for the hens. Likewise, their ranging area will be managed in order to provide an opportunity to access the outside.

"Both the shed and the range will be monitored and managed in order to prevent disease, control odour and minimise environmental impacts.

"The rural economy will benefit from this development as this business will generate a need for a variety of ancillary activities, these could include poultry supplies, feed and technical services such as veterinarians."

No objection

Government advisory body Natural England submitted a letter saying that it saw no reason to object to the plans. The letter from Elizabeth Ball said: "Based on the plans submitted, Natural England considers that the proposed development will not have significant adverse impacts on statutorily protected nature conservation sites or landscapes."

In response to Natural England’s letter the action group said: “We are disappointed to see the Natural England have not considered the impact that such a development would have on local protected species and habitats, not least the local biodiversity and traditional timber and pasture landscape, which is extremely rare in not only Shropshire but the U.K. as a whole.

“We would hope that they would re-consider their position in light of information that has been submitted by the Betton and Norton Action Group and other objectors on the various protected species.”

To view the planning application visit the Shropshire Planning Portal online and search for Betton.

Objections can be made until April 15 2019. The group has also launched an online petition which can be found at www.banactiongroup.org.