Chicken farm petition hits 1,000 mark as campaign gathers pace
A petition against plans for a 200,000 bird chicken farm has reached almost 1,000 signatures.
The owners of North Farm at Felton Butler, near Shrewsbury, LJ Cooke and Son, want planning permission to build four poultry sheds and ancillary buildings.
Local residents say there are already four other chicken farms within a two-mile radius.
Objectors say the buildings are more than a kilometre down a single lane country road and will impact on safety. They say that at certain times there will be up to 10 lorries on some days and 30 tractor trailer hauling chicken waste.
However a report to Shropshire Council from planning consultants says all traffic will use a new access track.
It says that the scale and type of the proposed buildings will be in keeping with the existing range of farm buildings on site and that the site has been chosen to reflect both ease of access to the site, landscaping and adherence with the planning policies of the Council.
"Farm businesses need to change and grow in response to market forces and legislation if they are to survive," the report says.
Objectors, who have set up a 'Cluck Off' protest group, also have a petition, https://www.change.org/p/say-no-to-more-chicken-sheds-in-felton-butler which has 955 signatures.
As well as traffic worries they also say that there is a colony of great crested newts on the land.
"There are currently four other chicken farm sites within a two mile radius, with the nearest being only 380m from the proposed site," the petition says.
