News

Poultry farmer needs new barns to keep business going

By Jon Nurse
May 14, 2012

A farmer is hoping to expand his poultry business by adding new barns, but villagers fear the proposal is too big for the area.

Oldfield Poultry Farm in Wargrave is applying to build two new poultry sheds, almost doubling the size of its production.

Wargrave Parish Council has objected to the plans, saying the mass of development is out of keeping with the size of the site.

Robert Killoran, owner of Oldfield Poultry Farm, insists the expansion is needed since the council ordered him to remove a mobile unit that was used by a worker.

He said: “We need these new barns to sustain the business. We have to check the birds every hour or so and living away from the site makes that impossible.

“At the moment I’m having to go there two or three times at night. It’s made my life hell. I’ve got to drive nine miles to get there. That extra profit from expansion can pay for regular checks there.”

The farm, in Henley Road, has two 24 metre by nine metre sheds that hold more than 3,200 birds.

The planning application asks to build two new sheds, one 13 metres by nine metres, holding 1,000 birds, and the other 24 metres by nine metres, holding 1,800 birds.

Mr Killoran said: “We are trying to do it properly. We can build the units without planning permission but they would have to be mobile. A permanent fixture would look a lot nicer.”

Neighbours of the farm have written to the borough council objecting to the plans, stating they believe an extension would lead to overcrowding on the site.

The parish council also decided to object to the plans at its meeting at the Old Pavilion in Recreation Road on Monday, April 2, as they believed increased activity might result in increased vehicle movements to the detriment of highway safety.

Mr Killoran insists the new barns would create no extra traffic.

He said: “One van comes twice a week. That’s all. The new barns would only bring half a dozen to a dozen extra movements a year.”

Wokingham Borough Council will make the final decision on the proposal in the next few weeks.

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Most recent user comments 4 of 4

I think you've hit the nail on the head there Damiano. It sounds like the standard thinly veiled ruse to get planning permission for a house in the country. First you need an agricutural activity/ business sufficient to justify someone having to live on the site. Three years later the house becomes permanent and you can then get rid of the chickens. The uplift in the value of the land with a house on it is massive. Pocket the profit and move on and find another site to do it again!

N1gel, Winnersh
14/05/2012 at 23:11

To be fair Pone, I don't think we know all the facts here. This article expresses the views of only one side of the argument, the gentleman who wants to almost double the size of his business.

The article confuses me - why would having twice as many chicken sheds mean that he has to travel back and forth less often?

It sounds like what he actually wants is to build something on-site where an employee can live; surely if that's the case, we'd want it scrutinised properly as it's not right to start building homes on this site?

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
14/05/2012 at 15:55

This seems like a parish council rejecting a proposal without even being aware of the facts.

An extra vehicle movement a month producing a traffic problem? An alternative solution available to the farmer where mobile houses don't require planning permission?

Presumably if this development doesn't go ahead there will be extra imports. Just what this country needs in the current economic environment.

PoneRana, Wokingham
14/05/2012 at 14:41

Typical parish council response - jeallous of a successful enterprise.

Little people in minor positions with a negative approach to just about everything.

Mince them up and feed them to those chickens!