Village braced for new chicken farm proposal
New plans for a chicken farm near a Perthshire village could be submitted to the council.
Poultry breeder Aviagen withdrew an application for the facility to be built close to houses and the local school in Murthly.
The original plans drew over 250 objections from locals.
But the company confirmed to the PA that is was reviewing the proposal.
A spokesperson for Aviagen said: “We are extremely grateful to the council for explaining the specific changes needed to revisit our application.
“We are currently reviewing those proposals.”
Aviagen had applied to build four sheds capable of housing a total of 26,000 chickens in a field south west of Murthly.
The PA reported last year that three doctors wrote to the council raising concerns about the plan, saying the proposed development would result in a mix of emissions being released into the atmosphere around the village and its primary school, which is said to be within 400 metres of the site.
Local Conservative councillor Anne Jarvis said: “The application was withdrawn after discussion with the planners, but it is expected to come back in a different form.
“It will need to be quite different or there will be similar objections.”
Murdo Fraser, who is standing for the Conservatives in the Perthshire North seat at next month’s Scottish election, said he is backing villagers who are fought against the proposal.
He also said local communities should be given more protection in planning law to stop unpopular developments being pushed through.
Mr Fraser said: “There is a great deal of opposition locally to the proposed chicken farm, and I am pleased that Aviagen decided to withdraw the application in light of this.
“We await seeing the revised application which will come in, which will then need to go through the formal consultation process.
“This episode highlights once again the deficiency we see in our planning laws. Too often planning applications are opposed by local communities, rejected by the local council as planning authority, and then granted on appeal by Scottish ministers.
“This means that unwelcome planning developments are imposed on local communities against their wishes, and even when their elected local representatives have backed them in rejecting the unpopular plans.”