Plans lodged for two poultry sheds at Draperstown farm

Lodged by agent Henry Marshall Brown Architectural Partnership on behalf of applicant Mr Michael McCullagh, the application seeks permission for the sheds at lands approximately 300m south east of 21 Five Mile Straight.

Permission is also sought to erect four feed bins, two gas tanks, a storage shed, underground wash tank and ancillary site works.

The sheds will contain a total of 74,000 broilers, taking the total farm capacity to 142,000 broilers. The 1.96 hectare site of the proposed development is already in use as agricultural land and the internal floor space of the proposed development will amount to 3,431.4m2.

A design and access statement submitted alongside the application notes the site is approximately 240 metres south of an existing poultry farm. It also states the site is screened from public view from the north by a 185 metre long belt of mature trees approximately 70 metres north of the site.

It also states the overall appearance of the proposal will be in keeping with the character and context of the area with the height of the buildings, listed at 5.68 metres “sympathetic to and consistent with that approved and built”.

Adding that 70m of hedgerow is to be removed, the statement says hedgerow boundaries will be retained and approximately 275m of new hedgerow is proposed to be planted in its place.

In relation to access, the entire poultry site will generate 406 vehicle movements per annum. This will comprise of 210 existing movements and an additional 196 that are expected as a result of this increase. This is an average of 1.1 per day or approximately eight trips per week.

Lodged and validated on Thursday, March 28, the application’s neighbour consultation period expired on Wednesday, April 19 and its standard consultation period expired on Tuesday, April 25.

The application was advertised until Tuesday, April 11 and council’s planners have set an internal target date of Tuesday, October 24, for a decision to be reached.