AN APPLICATION that would see the amount of chickens at a Radnorshire farm doubled to 110,000 is to be scrutinised by planners.

Owners of Llwyngwilym Farm, near Rhayader, haven’t even completed construction of an initial broiler poultry building they were granted planning permission for by Powys County Council (PCC) last June – but proposals to build a second unit parallel to the approved building have already been submitted to the council.

Applicant Jake Powell is seeking to add a second poultry building on the site. This would see the total number of birds double from 55,000 to 110,000.

Planning permission was granted on June 30, 2020, for the erection of a broiler unit, creation of access and all associated works at the farm, which is located on the B4518 road between Rhayader and St Harmon.

Consultants Berrys, acting on behalf of the farm owners, stat in the application: “A purpose designed broiler poultry building will be constructed on the site adjacent to the approved building.

“The buildings will be of portal framed construction with insulated metal sheeting to the walls and roofs and appear agricultural in character.

“Feed bins will be situated between the buildings and there will be a yard area and access around the buildings. The buildings will be specifically designed and constructed for broiler rearing and be fully compliant with the latest welfare standards.”

Despite the fact the capacity of the two buildings is 110,000 birds, Berrys also state in submitted documents that the unit will house 220,000 birds between the four buildings, meaning further applications for two more buildings cannot be ruled out.

“This application seeks to add a second poultry building on the site. The total number of birds would double from 55,000 to 110,000,” said the statement.

As the previous application has been approved the applicant believes the new proposed building would have a low impact and is in a suitable location for the proposed development.

The application continued: “The positioning of the sheds by the approved poultry building mitigates visual impact and represents an extension of the applicant’s existing farming activity as opposed to isolated development in the countryside.

“The building will include an acid scrubbing system for odour and ammonia control to ensure that emissions to air are mitigated.”

Rhayader Town Council has raised concerns about the volume of traffic on St Harmon Road that leads out of Rhayader and that the broiler unit could affect local properties.

The county council’s highways department also queried the additional traffic flow, but says it has no overriding objections to the application.

The application said the B4518 carries “only a low number of daily vehicle movements” and estimates that less than 2,000 two-way vehicle movements pass the site in a 24-hour period.

“The junction between the B4518 and the A470 trunk road at Rhayader is of a sufficient standard for movements by heavy goods vehicles and no issues were raised by the local highway authority over this access route during the consideration of the previous planning application,” said the consultants.

They do predict that with the addition of the second unit increasing the amount of birds to 100,000 per cycle this would lead to a 64 per cent increase in traffic movements from 42 to 69 two-way movements, over a 48-day cycle period.

“This equates to an additional 27 vehicle movements on the network for each cycle. Considering that the site will be able to deliver 7.6 flocks per annum, this will lead to an overall total of 524 vehicle movements on the network throughout the year.”

The original application form was received by the council on January 14 and is currently pending approval.