Plans to extend operating hours of Wrexham chicken farm granted on appeal

Plans to extend the operating hours of a chicken farm in Wrexham have been approved on appeal after councillors were accused of acting unreasonably.

Permission was granted for a facility for up to 225,000 birds at Cinders Farm in Ruabon in March last year subject to restrictions on delivery times designed to reduce disturbance to neighbours.

The company which runs the farm applied to vary the conditions just three months later in a bid to allow 24-hour bird deliveries and collections.

The move was rejected by Wrexham Council’s planning committee  amid concerns about the impact on nearby residents and the local road network.

However, the decision has now been overturned after Soaltar Limited successfully appealed.

Planning inspector Anthony Thickett also awarded costs against the local authority after criticising the lack of evidence used to justify the original outcome.

In a report, he said: “According to the environmental statement (ES), in the 48 day poultry rearing cycle there would be around 27 days without vehicle movements and four days when HGVs would arrive during the night.

“The ES goes on to conclude that although there may be up to ten vehicle movements over the course of an eight hour night-time period the noise impact would be negligible to minor.

“I have considered the argument that the impact is unknown as the operation has not yet started.

“However, I have seen nothing to suggest that the ES does not provide a robust empirical and reliable analysis of the impacts of the proposed development.”

He added: “In recommending that condition 19 be removed council officers reported that there was no ‘technical counter argument’ to question the findings of the ES or the views of statutory consultees including Natural Resources Wales.

“No new or additional technical evidence is before me and I see no reason to come to a different conclusion to the council’s officers.”

Mr Thickett concluded his report by saying that a time restriction was “not necessary” to protect neighbours.

The overall plans to create the facility were approved by a single vote after 65 objections from neighbours, who expressed worries about how it would impact the busy A539.

The proposal to vary the conditions was also backed to go ahead by the authority’s chief planning officer, but refused by the majority of committee members at October’s meeting.

In a separate decision notice, Mr Thickett said the lack of justification for the decision meant he would be awarding costs against the council.

He said: “I consider that the council has acted unreasonably in refusing to remove the disputed condition which led to the appellant incurring the unnecessary expense of this appeal.

“It is hereby ordered that Wrexham County Borough Council shall pay to Soaltar Ltd the costs of the appeal proceedings described in the heading of this decision.”

The company has now been invited to submit details of the costs to the council with a view to reaching an agreement on the amount.

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