Shropshire Star

Application for extra chicken sheds near Market Drayton to house 232,000 birds

Plans to build two new chicken sheds to house up to 232,000 birds have been submitted to Shropshire Council.

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Keith Wilson, of HLW Farms in Woodseaves, near Market Drayton, already has 116,000 chickens across two sheds at the farm in Hollins Lane, but wants to add two more sheds to help the farm diversify for future generations.

He has submitted the plans to Shropshire Council and they will be determined in the coming weeks.

Stuart Thomas, of planning agents Berrys, said the scheme would help the farm get ready for the future.

He said: “In 2016 to help ensure the viability of the farming business for future generations, and to help meet the high demand for chickens, four poultry sheds were erected on the land off Hollins Lane.

“The first crop went into the buildings in October 2016 and there is a permit in place to house up to 260,000 birds (there are currently up to 58,000 in each shed).

“The poultry units provided diversification of the farming enterprises and reduced reliance on a limited number of agricultural commodities.

Mirror

“It is now proposed to add an additional four sheds again being two buildings with interlinking covered access to mirror the existing buildings.

“The new buildings will house approximately 232,000 birds on the same cycle as the existing sheds.

“The broilers will be brought in as day old chicks from a hatchery with the average crop cycle being 35-36 days plus the clean-out period which is 10 days on average.

“At the end of the growing period they will be collected and transported to a processing plant.

“This will lead to there being around seven crops per year.”

He added: “To conclude it is considered that the scheme complies with the relevant policies of the development plan and the broader policy objectives of the National Planning Policy Framework.

“In our professional view significant weight should be given to policy CS13 of the Core Strategy and the necessity to support and grow the rural agricultural economy.”