ANOTHER 32,000 chickens could be brought to a farm west of Gifford, if plans lodged with East Lothian Council for a new poultry building win approval.

An environmental impact assessment (EIA) has been produced to determine the proposed building’s impact on the environment.

East Lothian Eggs Ltd, an agricultural business with an existing free-range hen shed on land at Howden Farm, wishes to expand with an additional hen shed onsite and a proposed cumulative capacity of 64,000 hens. This would double the company’s current capacity of 32,000 hens already housed onsite.

The plans have been submitted to East Lothian Council by Cogeco Planning and Environmental Services Ltd, on behalf of East Lothian Eggs Ltd.

The proposal is subject to an EIA under the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017.

The aim of an EIA is to protect the environment by ensuring that a local planning authority, when deciding whether to grant planning permission for a project which is likely to have significant effects on the environment, does so in the full knowledge of these effects.

Situated on agricultural land at Howden Farm, the proposed development would be accessed via the existing junction off the B6368 that is dedicated solely to the poultry operations onsite.

Under East Lothian’s Local Development Plan, any new development must have no significant adverse impact on: road safety; the convenience, safety and attractiveness of walking and cycling in the surrounding area; public transport operations in the surrounding area, both existing and planned; the capacity of the surrounding road network to deal with traffic unrelated to the proposed development; and residential amenity because of an increase in traffic.

Although the proposal does not require a mandatory EIA, the council concluded there was potential for significant environmental impacts as a result of the existing poultry shed.

The authority concluded that an EIA should be carried out to ensure the proposed development would not negatively affect the area.

Poultry farming can emit odour, meaning appropriate siting, design and operational management practices are essential to minimise any impacts from emissions.

An odour impact assessment was conducted as part of the plan, modelling data from the proposed new shed and the existing shed.

The assessment found that the additional odour caused by the extra hens would not be likely to cause “nuisance or impairment” to the local community.

An assessment also found that increased noise levels from the ventilation fans, delivery and collection vehicles and the waste belt would also not cause nuisance to the public.

Now that the EIA report has been completed, a decision on whether to approve the plans is set to be made in November.