Residents of a Nottinghamshire village say they are pleased to see plans refused for a new industrial scale chicken farm. Plans for a poultry farm to be built 500m from Owthorpe, near Cotgrave, had been submitted by Richard Barlow but were unanimously refused by Rushcliffe Borough Council during discussions on Thursday, October 13.
The plans had proposed four purpose-built poultry units and associated infrastructure would be built, allowing the site a total capacity of 190,000 birds. Villagers were frustrated with the plans, which could have seen the chickens residing on the site for seven and a half weeks before being sent to slaughter, allowing the facility capacity to go through more than 1 million animals per year for the sole purpose of meat production.
The main concerns of residents was the size of the farm, the potential health risks from the site and the impact it would have on a nearby astronomical observatory. However, the applicant assured the villagers that they have nothing to worry about and that site's like this are important for "the continued supply of chicken in the shops."
