Retrospective approval granted for cattle shed after robot scraper noise row

Bruce Sinclair, Local Democracy Reporter

A farmer “jumped the gun” in his enthusiasm to build a new cattle shed which includes ‘robot slurry scrapers’ that have been causing a noise nuisance for neighbours, county planners heard.

In a retrospective application recommended for approval at the December meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning committee, Aled Jenkins sought permission for a replacement cattle housing and silage clamp at Upper Ty Rhos, Wolfscastle.

An officer report said Upper Ty Rhos consists of a herd of 630 youngstock beef cattle, the applicant seeking permission for the replacement 100-metre-long cattle housing building.

It said the building benefits from a robotic scraping system to internally clean it to improve animal welfare and efficiency.

However, the slurry scraper system in operation has been found to constitute a statutory noise nuisance.

“The introduction of the slurry scraper system has resulted in a new noise source to the locality that is having a significant detrimental impact upon local amenity.  The nuisance noise is directly associated with the extended hours of operation of the slurry scraper system and the noise created by the two motors powering the system including the drive mechanism that moves the scraper through the building to remove slurry produced by the housed cattle.

“To further exacerbate the situation, the building has open voids to the eastern gable end, which is within close proximity to the neighbouring property resulting in the building being acoustically weak.

“An acoustic report has been submitted with mitigation methods provided including relocating motors and associated equipment into external enclosures, reduction of noise egress through openings by installing hit-and-miss louvres and/or PVC strip curtains and consideration of blocking the gap between roof pitches along the ridge of the building.”

Three letters of concern were received from members of the public raising concerns including visual and environmental impact, noise issues and a potential for the herd size to increase.

Speaking at the meeting, neighbour Dr Andrew Williams, who stressed he was not seeking to have the shed removed, raised concerns about the noise from the ‘robot scrapers,’ exacerbated by cattle being concentrated in the immediate area from the wider farm complex.

Agent Wyn Harries addressed concerns about the retrospective nature was a result of over-enthusiasm by his client who “jumped the gun”.

He said there was now a scheme that was “fully worked through,” dealing with noise and other issues.

Members backed approval, which includes noise mitigation to address the impact of the robot scrapers; one member, Cllr Tony Wilcox, abstaining on the grounds of the retrospective native of the building “the size of a football field”.