50,000 chickens shed plans in Welsh national park

Bruce Sinclair Local Democracy Reporter

A call for a new building to upgrade facilities at a poultry producer which deals with up to 50,000 chickens a week has been lodged with a Welsh national park.

In an application to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Capestone Organic Poultry Ltd of Capeston Farm, through agent Harries Planning Design Management seeks a replacement storage building at its Walwyns Castle site.

A supporting statement says Capestone Organic Poultry Ltd “is an established farming enterprise (established over 20 years ago) and has grown into a large independent poultry producer, processing between 40-50,000 chickens per week”.

It adds: “A large range of activities associated with the rearing and killing of poultry (chickens and turkeys), the preparation of various products and subsequent distribution of products occurs at Capestone Farm.

“The complex comprises a mixture of conventional portal frame sheds and stone buildings throughout the complex, which have been expanded and altered over the years as the business has grown.”

Of the scheme proposed, it says: “This application site comprises an existing redundant chicken shed, which once housed chickens on the farm.

“The use of this building has long ceased, and the shed has laid vacant for some time, due to the inability to reuse the shed due to poor construction and overall deterioration of the shed.”

The plan is to replace the portal-frame shed “with a replacement shed of modern construction to provide a general storage/industrial (B2/B8 use) building for the business”.

It adds: “The proposed shed will occupy the same footprint as the existing shed, with the external elevations closely matching those currently on site. The shed will be used for general workshop space, offering flexibility to the business for the carrying out of activities which need to be sheltered from the elements and as a storage area when required to tidy up the overall site.”

It says the building would have “the same footprint with like-for-like modern elevations,” with “a slight use change to one of a lesser overall impact on the surrounding area, including neighbouring properties”.

National park planners will consider the application at a later date.