Published: Friday, 8th December, 2006 10:10
300,000 chickens plan is hatched
By David Knox
Print Article
PLANS have now been lodged to build the largest egg farm in the UK – only a couple of miles from West Linton.
Glenrath Farms submitted an application for the £8 million expansion with Scottish Borders Council this week.
The Lamancha-based company already gained permission to build a single giant hen-hut earlier this year after a lengthy argument with councilors and local campaigners opposed to development in the rural Blythbank valley.
But the firm’s boss John Campbell now has the backing of an independent environmental impact study on his side.
If the new bid is successful the poultry village will house around 300,000 birds and create 60 new jobs.
Glenrath is already the largest egg producer in Scotland, turning out 1.3 million eggs every day, but Mr Campbell told the Peeblesshire News that expansion is needed to meet demand. He said: “There is an increasing demand for free range eggs and we are ideally placed to respond to those market signals. Some supermarkets have to import eggs, surely it makes sense to produce them in the UK.
“Our plans are not only good for purchasers of eggs, they will also benefit local employment prospects and the Borders farming industry. To feed our poultry we already use a quarter of all the wheat grown in the Borders and that will increase to a third.”
The company initially lodged the ten-hut application last month but planners wanted more information.
An environmental impact study, conducted by the Scottish Agricultural College, has now been concluded and finds that the chicken sheds would not impact on the landscape.
And a map showing the layout of the new ten sheds has also been submitted.
But local campaigners, the Blythbank Action Group, have stated that they will fight the study’s findings as well as the detailed planning application.
A spokesman told us: “Our concerns remain about the detrimental effect this will have on the valley and surrounding area.
“This will have a major impact on the lives of people who live in this area.
“We will be seeking clarification over what is in the EIA with our professional consultants. Our initial reaction is that it is not thorough enough and certainly hasn’t addressed all areas. Our fight will continue to stop this development going ahead.”
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