Plea for chicken manure plant plans to be reviewed

The proposed plant would gather 100,000 tonnes of poultry manure a year from the area’s farms

Planners are being urged to reconsider an application for a large plant to dispose of chicken waste after the proposal was amended.

Nicholas Layton proposed to build an anaerobic digestion (AD) unit at Whitwick Manor, between Hereford and Bromyard, two years ago.

The AD unit was to take in about 100,000 tonnes of poultry manure a year from the area's farms, along with other food and farming waste, generating enough natural gas to supply about 6,000 homes.

An analysis by Herefordshire Council officers in January concluded that there would be "an adverse effect on the integrity" of the protected river Wye catchment, and that planning permission "cannot legally be granted".

The bid also sought permission for feedstock storage clamps, tanks, lagoons and a wetland filtration system and connection to the national gas grid, together with solar panels on buildings, a grain store and dryer, and new road access onto the A417.

It has since drawn nearly 240 objections from the public, with concerns over traffic, water and air pollution, impact on the landscape, and smell.

Highways engineer Katy Jones said the plan would give rise to an average of 96 lorry trips per day, and that the proposed road access "isn't large enough".

Senior landscape officer Mandy Neill said the scheme "will not integrate into the surroundings" due to its "large-scale industrial appearance".

But a letter to planning officer Rebecca Jenman from Mr Layton's agent dated 4 October asks for the scheme to be reconsidered in light of changes made to it.

He asked that she "reconsult and then determine the application", claiming the main issues over transport, drainage, landscape, ecology and heritage had been addressed.