An intensive poultry farm is set to double in size from 100,000 to 200,000 chickens after Shropshire Council granted approval for the expansion.
The authority’s northern planning committee said the proposals put forward by Knockin Hall Farm addressed concerns raised over ammonia and would help sustain the business.
The plans were supported by Knockin Parish Council, but received two objections from members of the public.
Planning officer Philip Mullineux told the committee the applicants had sought to reduce ammonia emissions through the addition of air scrubbers to the new and existing sheds.
He added that all manure would be taken off-site to an anaerobic digestion plans, minimising any odour impact.
Councillor Vince Hunt, who represents the Llanymynech division which includes Knockin, spoke in support of the application.
He said: “Poultry units can be very contentious, especially the larger ones where you’re talking half a million to a million birds.
“This is not one of those units, it’s currently got 100,000.
“This is a hard working local farming family. Part of their business plan was to increase the size of this to put in the extra two units.”
Councillor Hunt said the applicants had spent “a significant amount of time” working with council officers on a solution to the ammonia issue, in response to new government guidelines.
He added: “I don’t know if we have ever seen one of these applications that is actually supported by the local parish council, normally toys are flung out of prams about these.”
The application was unanimously supported by the committee.
Councillor Mark Jones said: “It’s a good site, when it first got put up I didn’t even realise it was there for about a year because it’s a difficult site to see.”
Councillor Jones added that allowing existing chicken farms to expand was preferable to seeing new sites spring up elsewhere.
A report to the committee by planning officers said the Environment Agency had already granted a permit variation for the proposed extra chickens.
It added that there was “strong national and local policy support for development of agricultural businesses which can provide employment to support the rural economy”.
There were no objections from council departments including ecology, highways and regulatory services, or other consultees including Natural England and the Environment Agency.
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