Pheasant farmer submits change of use application to raise 28,000 young birds

A PHEASANT farmer has applied for permission to use an entire field to help rear up to 28,000 young birds.

Carmarthenshire Council said he needed to change the use from agricultural to land for the purpose of pheasant rearing.

There is already a chick-rearing barn at Rectory Farm, Henfwlch Road, west of Carmarthen, plus pens and outdoor runs.

Securing the change of use consent would, according to planning documents, allow the farm owner to rotate the pens and outdoor runs around the entire field.

The documents said the young pheasants were in the temporary pens and outdoor runs for around 12 weeks before being transported to a woodland away from the farm every August and released.

They are then targeted during an average of 30 recreational shoots per year, between the beginning of October and the end of January.

“The enterprise supports three full-time jobs and also attracts visitors to the Carmarthenshire area during the shooting season,” said a planning statement on behalf of the applicant.

It added that the proposal supported tourism and thereby complied with policies of Carmarthenshire’s local development plan.

The statement also said manure produced by the birds while they were held in the pens was stockpiled and spread on the pasture in the autumn.

A noise management plan submitted to the council’s planning department said the birds were too young to make a noise, but that the farm owner would have to drive around the field feeding them.

Other noise could come from a fan at the barn, but it was said to be only used when the temperature exceeded 28 degrees C.

The management plan also indicated that trees said to have been taken down by another party would be replanted to help screen the venture.

Neighbours at an adjacent property have objected to the application on a number of grounds, including the smell. They said they were unable invite friends round outside, or have a barbecue.

The farm owner’s planning agent said the site was kept as clean and hygienic as possible.

Newchurch and Merthyr Community Council said it felt the number of birds being reared was excessive and that waste storage on site was insufficient, while the county council’s highways department has asked about numbers of vehicle movements to and from the site and where the three employees currently lived, among other matters.