Fears lifting restrictions on poultry farm would turn it into ‘chicken city’

Fears have been raised that a poultry farm could be turned into a ‘chicken city’ if restrictions on its operating hours are lifted.

Planning conditions currently mean that deliveries to and from Talwrn Farm near Wrexham, which has the capacity to hold 32,000 birds, can only be carried out between 7.30am and 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 2pm on Saturday.

However, an application has been made by the owners of the farm in Legacy to allow vehicles on and off the site 24 hours a day.

Neighbours have raised strong objections to the proposals because they feel it would disturb their sleep.

In a report set to go before councillors, they said: “The noise from the site is already disrupting to the nearby residential area.

“Complaints have already been made regarding noisy deliveries prior to 6am through the month of August.
“To allow this level of noise 24 hours a day would be a nuisance to local residences and may even cause health issues due to lack of sleep.
“Neighbours work stressful jobs and do not wish to be woken by throughout the night by noisy deliveries.
“There appears to bribery where ‘good will gestures’ have occurred by offering land to neighbours of the site in order to achieve an outcome of chicken city.”

Plans for the first egg laying barn at the farm were originally refused by Wrexham Council, but granted on appeal by the Planning Inspectorate in 2015.

Last year proposals for an additional barn to house 15,700 birds were given the green light by the authority’s planning committee.
Despite the concerns raised, the application to remove delivery restrictions has been recommended for approval by the council’s head of environment and planning.

In a report, Lawrence Isted said: “This application has been submitted in order to seek approval for the birds to be delivered and collected during hours of darkness.

“The justification for this is that this operation is best undertaken at night or in the early hours of the morning for animal welfare purposes.

“Whilst legislation does not require this, the applicant has taken on board RSPCA guidance on poultry catching which suggests that the birds are quieter at this time as they are resting and this helps to reduce stress during the process.

“It also speeds up the process of bird catching as the birds are calmer.
“This is publicly available document and I have no reason to doubt its contents.

“I am satisfied that the proposed alterations to the delivery timings in the imposed condition would not result in a character of development that would detrimental to the neighbouring occupiers o4 the safety of highway users.”

The proposals will be debated by councillors at a meeting at the Guildhall on Monday.

By Liam Randall – BBC Local Democracy Reporter (more here on the LDR scheme).