Another 500 planning battles to go

As many as 500 new free range buildings may need to be built in this country in the next few years if the sector maintains its expected rate of growth.

Getting planning permission for them will become increasingly difficult, time consuming and possibly expensive. That’s the view of ADAS planning and environmental impact expert Ray Williams who has spent the last 15 years steering poultry projects through the planning system.

“Up until last year I have dealt exclusively with large broiler projects which, understandably, have faced a range of planning issues,” says Mr Williams, “but in the past twelve months I have found myself dealing with free range projects for the first time. It appears that planning officers are applying the same kind of scrutiny and demands to free range buildings that were once reserved for major broiler or battery sites.

“I have no doubt that obtaining planning permission for any poultry building is getting more difficult,” says Mr Williams who has only ever been handed a negative result on one occasion.

It is still possible for would-be producers to sail through the system. But it is becoming increasingly common for applicants to find themselves facing an array of demands for environmental reports and explanations and, even if they get permission, to be wrapped up in a web of conditions.

The key to the planning experience is whether local residents step forward to object. With the changing profile of the rural population there is an increasing likelihood that they will.

Mr Williams, who is based near Worcester but covers the whole country with the backing of other ADAS specialists, cites one of his recent cases where plans for a 12,500 bird shed was hit by a blizzard of protests.

“All the objectors were people who had retired to the country and had no connection with agriculture,” he said. “They even took on a barrister to oppose the scheme, but having produced an impact assessment and a further report to answer specific objections we were granted permission by nine votes to one.”

Even so, the site currently faces a large number of planning conditions. These include controls on the times feed and egg lorries can leave and enter, special requirements on the disposal of roof water and litter and even demands for the protection of birds of prey. Many of the conditions are now being challenged but the case illustrates the complexity of demands that the planning process can now require.

One producer who recently contacted BFREPA was required to make an assessment of newt numbers in a pond affected by his proposals and made to wait until Spring in order that the count could be carried out properly.

While a statutory Environmental Impact Assessment, which may include assessments of odour, traffic, noise, ecology, landscape and waste disposal, may not be triggered, it is increasingly common, says Mr Williams, for councils to require a report on environmental issues. The Environmental Health Officer may be a key a figure in addition to the planning officer.

Mr Williams comments that “it is important to determine at an early stage, what information the planners need.

“Making an application and dealing with enquiries as they come up often leads to long delays, it is best to know what is required and supply the information at the time the application is made.”

Other demands can include a permeability test on the soil in order to confirm that it can cope with run-off water and even archaeological reports if ancient sites are known to exist in the area.

ADAS reports are recognised as independent even if the organisation is representing the applicant. Mr Williams comments that “much of the environmental legislation relating to cases is issued by Defra, but largely written for them by ADAS, we are therefore well placed to interpret the requirements.”

Costs can vary, he says, from “a cup of tea and an hour of my time” up to an average of around £5000 for sites where objectors appear and reports are concerned.

“But my advice to anyone thinking of a free range development is to act sooner rather than later and take advice. Once you have planning permission you have five years before you need to start building. But getting approval can only get more difficult with each year that passes.”

Mr Williams can be contacted on 01905 371476 (office), 07831 355047 (mobile) or by Email ray.williams@adas.co.uk