A campaign group has taken up Whaplode Drove residents’ fight against a proposed chicken farm.
Holbeach Poultry Ltd is looking to create 12 poultry ‘houses’ for up to 552,000 birds off Pear Tree Hill Farm.
The 80ft by 360ft buildings would house a combined three million birds a year in total.
Recently several local residents, including Julie Greenhill, joined forces with the campaign Coalition Against Factory Farming to oppose the development to be decided by South Holland District Council.
Leaflets were posted through various doors around Whaplode Drove outlining their concerns, including the impacts of the farm such as how waste will be removed, the crowding of the birds together and the possibility of bird flu being passed on to humans.
“Like many others, I made a home in this area expecting a good, healthy quality of life in beautiful, unspoilt nature,” said Julie.
“The prospect of a factory farm blighting the environment here is deeply worrying. I’m concerned about how thousands of tonnes of waste will be managed, the strain on our precious water supply, and the pollution risk to our local waterways.
“Local residents shouldn’t be forced to deal with the odour pollution from a megafarm.
“I’m concerned that the impact of HGV traffic on the already poor-quality local roads hasn’t been considered.
Intensive farming on this scale also raises serious animal welfare issues – millions of birds should not be crammed into sheds together.
“This is a health disaster waiting to happen. The planned development completely opposes all the values that make this place special.”
Bini Pitwell, coordinator of the Coalition Against Factory Farming said: “We are saturated with factory farms with nearly 200 in Lincolnshire alone.
“At a time when farmers face droughts, failed crops and rising concerns over food security, diverting vast amounts of water and feed to intensive livestock operations while they pollute our land and water is unsustainable and short-sighted.”
In planning documents Holbeach Poultry Ltd says it could have applied to have up to 690,000 birds but instead was adopting ‘a higher welfare regime’.
Natural England is not objecting to the proposals stating that it considers the application ‘will not have significant adverse impacts on statutorily protected nature conservation sites or landscapes.”
The district council’s environmental protection officer says it also has ‘no concerns’ on odour and noise apart from where it’s proposed to turn a property into a residential home for site workers.
Lincolnshire County Council’s Highways department has asked for more information before it comments on the application.
