Thousands of extra chooks to descend on Lockyer Valley

Expansions at two separate poultry farms to go ahead after getting green light from council.

EXPANSIONS at two separate poultry farms will go ahead, bringing more than 160,000 birds to the Lockyer Valley.

The two poultry farms, one at at Veradilla and the other at Adare, both had previous approvals in place, but sought extensions or changes to the approvals.

Their requests to renew their expansions were approved by the Lockyer Valley Regional Council at its recent meeting.

The Adare facility had an application to construct a further 16 poultry sheds on its property given the tick by Lockyer Valley Regional Council back in 2015.

But, during the four years since the approval was granted, the proprietor had not required the additional capacity and as a result, had not begun construction.

As the approval lapsed this year, the propertier applied to extend the currency period for a further four years after re-evaluating the project and deciding to proceed based on "increase in market demand, sales activity and economic confidence".

The council resolved to approve an increase in the currency for two years, and advised the applicant it was unlikely any further extension to the application would be supported.

It wasn't without controversy however, as complaints from nearby residents meant Mayor Tanya Milligan disagreed with her colleagues and voted against the approval.

Since the poultry facility was first approved in 1991, a number of rural-residential estates have been developed bordering on the farm's property.

There have been complaints from residents in regards to odour from the facility in recent years.

Cr Milligan told the meeting she had a "very strong opinion on poultry farms".

"I understand the recommendation and I am respectful of it, (but) my experience tells me that it is very difficult to police (odour issues)," she said.

"I have very little faith or confidence from past experiences on how that gets managed."

Lockyer Valley Regional Council handed down their 2018/19 budget on Tuesday, June 5.

The Veradilla proposal was less controversial.

The facility at Grantham Scrub Rd had previously received approval to increase its maximum capacity by an additional 100,000 birds.

This would take the farm's maximum capacity to 160,000 birds onsite.

The applicant sought to have updated versions of its plans approved and minor changes made to conditions of its approval.

The amended plan proposes four new sheds on the property and extensions to six other existing sheds.

The applicant noted that as its operation focused on rearing and egg-harvesting, the facility would not carry more than 135,000 birds at any one time - well under the 160,000 maximum.

The proposal gained unanimous support from all councillors, including the mayor.

"I don't believe we've received any complaints about this particular business," she said.

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