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Councillors support concerns of Great Ponton villagers over chicken farm but delay final decision




A decision on plans for a controversial chicken farm has been put back after councillors said they are minded to refuse it.

Members of the planning committee at South Kesteven District Council said they supported the concerns of villagers in Great Ponton, which is close to the site of the proposed farm to house 270,000 chickens at any one time.

Most members of the committee agreed the site was unsuitable for the farm and would potentially cause problems for nearby residents.

Objectors to the proposed chicken farm at Great Ponton attend the planning committee meeting at South Kesteven District Council. (26274077)
Objectors to the proposed chicken farm at Great Ponton attend the planning committee meeting at South Kesteven District Council. (26274077)

Coun Phil Dilks said he wanted to propose refusal of the plan but Sylvia Bland, head of development management at SKDC, advised that more concrete reasons for refusing the plan would have to be put forward and a cooling off period should be used to put these together. Seven members voted in favour of minding to refuse the plan, with two against.

Five objectors spoke against the plans by applicant Stewart Adams. The meeting was told that chickens from the farm would be taken to Anwick where they would be processed at Moy Park.

The plan for the chicken farm includes six poultry sheds, a bungalow for agricultural workers and a bio-mass building. The plans also include improvements to access to the site from the High Dyke. According to the plans, the poultry unit would run to a 37-day growing cycle with about a third of the birds thinned out at day 33 and the remaining removed at day 37.

Objector Lamorna Osborne, of Boothby Pagnell, said a total of more than 600 lorries would have to use the High Dyke, a B road, to deliver and remove the chickens. She said the road was unsuitable but this had been “completely overlooked”.

Clive Taylor, who owns historic Ellys Manor in Great Ponton, said local heritage has been ignored. He said there were wall paintings in the manor which were among the most important in the country.

Great Ponton resident Richard Parkinson voiced concerns for the River Witham and local watercourses. He said this was a “high risk area” for flooding and that increased the risk of ammonia from the farm being washed into the river and watercourses. He said: “Are the risks associated with the proposal acceptable? No.”

Keith Leader, headteacher of Great Ponton Primary School, said the future of the school would be in doubt if the plan was approved. He said parents had said they would not send their children to the school if it was approved because of their perception it could be a health hazard for their children. He said if parents stopped sending their children to the school it could close in five years.

Mark Higgins said he moved to the village with his wife and two children for the quiet village life. He said: “We moved to the village to avoid the traffic, the noise and nuisance of Grantham. If this is approved it will all be changed.”

Another resident, Jane Suckling, said odours from the McCain potato factory six miles away could be smelled, so it was likely odours from a chicken farm would carry to the village.

But David Mark, of Moy Park, told the meeting that the farm would be dry heated, meaning there would be little odour from the site. He said this meant there would be “no significant impact on or harm” to people living in the village.

Ken Dhillon, the agent for the applicant, said that ammonia emissions from the site would be “insignificant” and “not at all harmful”.

The applicant also told the meeting that its lorries would be contantly monitored and would not drive along any other routes.

Reasons for refusing the plan will be put before the committee at its next meeting when members will be asked to vote on the proposal again.



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