Chicken farms: Local views 'sidelined' in planning process

Opposition parties in Powys claim that local opinions about issues like chicken farms are being "sidelined".

It follows a decision by county councillors to hand more decision-making power to council officers.

Rural campaign groups have called for a moratorium on chicken farm schemes, claiming they are being "shut out" of the planning process.

Powys County Council said the decision taken in January to delegate powers had "followed a democratic process".

In April, these powers were used by officers to approve a 200,000-bird chicken farm near Newtown to replace a free-range egg-laying business.

Ten organisations, including the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales, wrote an open letter to council bosses last week claiming that Powys was seen as the "poultry capital" of Wales, with 29 applications in the pipeline.

They said they were "increasingly concerned" that the council was "effectively rubber-stamping approval of a flood of these applications without apparent consideration of the overall impact on the county".

Plaid Cymru's Elwyn Vaughan, who chairs the council's democratic services committee, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service there was "a lot of disquiet on this issue".

"I think it wasn't realised at the time how big an effect this would have on the planning process," he said.

"I feel we need to review this issue to ensure transparency."

Montgomeryshire Labour Party, which has added its criticism, is particularly concerned about planning applications needing an environmental impact assessment.

"By their nature, they are more likely to require greater scrutiny and public consultation," the party said.

"It would seem that with these changes, much of this public scrutiny and the possibility of full local consultation may have been sidelined."

Powys County Council has defended the use of delegated powers, pointing out that some applications still have to be taken by the planning committee, such as major applications by the county council or those by councillors.

But a spokesman added: "The January decision was taken by full council and followed a democratic process."