October 13,  2020

Scottish Border Council approves four chicken sheds capable of housing more than 37,000 birds

Scottish Border Council's planning and building standards committee has approved the establishment of four chicken sheds that could house more than 37,000 birds at Falsidehill Farm, north of Kelso, Scotland.

Members followed the recommendation of council planning officer Craig Miller in agreeing the move.

Currently, applicant Stuart Ramsey's 675-acre farm is given over to pasture for breeding and rearing cattle, an enterprise centred on a herd of 350 suckler cows. Now he is able to diversify his business by adding a poultry farm for fertile egg production, in addition to store rooms, egg-packing facilities and a loading bay.

The total floorspace of that development will be almost 7,000sqm.

The application had met with opposition, with objections submitted by 12 households and a protest petition drawn up by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and backed by about 22,000 signatories.

Issues raised include concerns over poultry farming in principle, animal cruelty and the welfare of the birds.

"PETA is calling for (the application) to be scrapped, sparing thousands of birds a lifetime of suffering and an agonising death," said a PETA spokesperson.

In his report to an upcoming meeting, Miller said: "A number of the objections, together with the petition, question moral and welfare issues associated with intensive poultry units. Whilst members may note the concerns expressed, such matters are not for consideration within a planning application and relate more to national policy and statutory regulations governing the operation of such uses."

- The Southern Reporter