Farm gets nod for 100,000 chickens

Bebb Wallace of Bebb Farms submitted the application to Powys County Council to build two units both housing 50,000 chickens at Hendre Poeth in Llansantffraid.

The application, which was discussed by Powys County Council's planning committee last week stated that the farm currently has poultry units for 65,000 chickens.

However following a storm back in 2013, the buildings have fallen into disrepair and the new ones will replace them.

In a consultee response in the planning report, Llansantffraid Community Council has stated that the plans need to be clearer and need to be clarified.

The council stated: "The site of the new development is not particularly clear on the plans and this needs to be clarified please.

"It was felt that the site of the former chicken sheds should be used as part of the new development which would tidy the area up.

"It was also felt that the access to the site is quite narrow and unsuitable for large lorries.

"Many of the documents pertaining to this planning application on the website are redacted and cannot be viewed – can you please give the reasons for this."

The farm at Hendre Poeth is a family owned business which extends to around 131 acres of land.

Building the units would allow the farm to diversify further into a poultry enterprise in order to secure the long term viability of the farm.

In the report planners recommended that the application should be given conditional consent.

A statement from planning officers states: "Development management considers that the proposed poultry development is compliant with planning policies.

"The recommendation is one of conditional consent. All information submitted with the application, including environmental statement have been considered."

The committee voted and took the decision to pass the application.