Green light for poultry sheds

Two giant poultry sheds are to be built at a farm near Audlem after Cheshire East gave plans the go-ahead.

The council's Southern Area Planning Board approved plans for two sheds to house up to 32,000 egg laying chickens on land near Oak Farm, Broomhall.

But planners want a waste management plan in place first to see how the chicken manure is managed and stored prior to disposal.

Other conditions include a landscaping scheme, protection for local hedgerows and measures to ensure great crested newts living in a nearby pond are not disturbed.

Proposals for the site include two giant sheds linked by a control room and four feed hoppers on the 112 acre site.

Chickens will roam the fields in pens during the day but roost and feed inside the sheds where free range eggs from the 32,000 birds will be collected daily.

A report to councillors said that although the site lies in open countryside, the proposed development falls within the definition of agriculture and so complies with the Local Plan.

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