Plan to expand chicken farm

By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter

A planning application has been submitted for a building that will increase the number of free range egg laying hens at a farm near Cefn Coch.

The applicant was given planning permission to build a free-range poultry unit for 12,000 hens back in July 2018 and agent, Gerallt Davies, explained the new proposal in a Design and Access statement.

Mr Davies said: “This is a free-range poultry unit and not an intensive livestock unit. The poultry will be able to roam the land around the building.

“The existing poultry enterprise has been successful in generating another income stream for the applicant. He is proposing to increase the number of hens from 12,000 to 18,000 to increase income and business efficiencies.

“Poultry egg laying is becoming an important element in Wales’ agricultural economy and the current market dictates that agriculture must adapt to meet consumer demands.”

According to the plans the new building will be 44.5 metres long, 21.5metres wide and have a maximum height of 6.1 metres, this would give a floor area of 957 square metres. It would be built to the north of the existing unit.

Mr Davies continued: “The existing poultry site is located in a fairly rural location with the nearest small settlement being Cefn Coch which is approximately 1.5 miles away.”

The feed for the current 12,000-bird unit is delivered to the farm by six or eight-wheeler HGVs, (Heavy Goods Vehicle) two to three times a month, and stored on site.

Eggs are collected every three days and vehicles delivering new birds arrive once every 13 months.”

Mr Davies added: “There will be no additional movements due to this proposal as the lorries can carry enough feed for a 18,000 bird unit and can accommodate the additional eggs produced.”

Details of how the farm would deal with any potential pollution incidents have been included in the plans with a Pollution and Prevention method statement.