Last month, Nene Herald described a proposal for a chicken broiler farm in South Rushden. This plan includes:
- six poultry units
- fifteen grain silos
- three crumb feed silos
- three food blending houses
- a pumping house
- two gas storage tanks
- an electricity substation
- plus assorted supporting buildings
On Tuesday 28th July, the Planning Consultative Committee of Rushden Town Council (RTC) met to discuss the planning application.
Around 25 members of the public attended, and Mr. Roger Barnes of Newton Bromswold spoke to highlight the animal welfare issues of having 21 chickens per square metre.
RTC’s Planning Consultative Committee voted to object to the planning application on the following grounds:
1) The proposal conflicts with local and national planning policies protecting the countryside, landscape character, biodiversity, heritage assets and residential amenity.
2) The development is disproportionately large for its rural location and would cause significant visual harm. The proposed landscaping would take many years to become effective and even then, would not adequately mitigate the development.
3) There are concerns regarding ammonia emissions, fine particulate matter (PM2.5), odour from poultry housing and manure spreading, and the cumulative impacts alongside the existing nearby Biogen Anaerobic Digestion facility.
4) The Manure Management Plan does not appear to be a sustainable method of disposal. There are concerns regarding nutrient pollution, groundwater contamination, impacts on nearby watercourses and excessive odour from manure spreading.
5) The ecological assessment is inadequate. Insufficient information was provided regarding protected species, habitat loss, long-term ecological management and mitigation for the wildlife that would be displaced by the development. There were also concerns regarding impacts on designated European wildlife sites.
6) The Transport Assessment is outdated and fails to account for cumulative traffic arising from:
- the Rushden East Sustainable Urban Extension;
- Bellway Homes developments south of the Town;
- continued growth within Rushden; and
- the Universal Studios development near Bedford.
RTC therefore requested updated traffic modelling to assess the cumulative impact on the A6 and surrounding highway network.
7) The proposal would result in the permanent loss of Grade 2 agricultural land, which RTC believes should be protected.
8) The scheme would introduce significant artificial lighting into an otherwise dark rural landscape, adversely affecting both local character and wildlife.
9) Questions remain regarding the Environmental Permit submitted in support of the application. RTC believes these issues should be resolved before any planning decision is made.
RTC’s objections will be forwarded to North Northants Council (NNC).
It is expected that the planning application will go before the NNC Planning Committee at some point in the future.