American poultry giant to create chicken farm on derelict Perthshire land

Plans to bring a derelict Perthshire farm back into use as a poultry farm – creating 20 jobs – have been unanimously approved by Perth and Kinross Council’s Planning and Placemaking Committee.

There were 60 letters of objection and four in support, including the nearest resident whose family had tenanted the farm for over 100 years.

Councillors approved Aviagen’s application to rear thousands of chickens at Newbigging Farm near Stanley when the committee met on Wednesday, February 11.

Aviagen submitted plans to PKC to erect four poultry rearing sheds, a replacement house and garage for the farm manager, as well as an office, storage and staff facilities at Newbigging Farm, Kinclaven.

The report of handling – put before councillors – said the pedigree rearing farm would hold a maximum of 7,000 birds in each shed, with the aim to rear a total of 28,000 chickens every six months.

It said Aviagen would employ one farm manager supported by three team leaders, 15 full-time members of staff and one cleaner.

Several objectors attended Wednesday’s meeting to outline their concerns.

Objector Adam Lilly said there were “concerns with traffic infrastructure, but more so with water infrastructure”. He said Airntully residents’ experience was that “the system is not delivering a consistent supply” and fears “this industrial development will demand more water than the system can cope with”.

Objector Martin Cook raised concern about the impact on protected and threatened wildlife of “putting in a highly disruptive, industrial, intensive operation”.

While objector Katy Homan pointed to environmental concerns about ammonia and smells.

Objector Elspeth Coutts read a statement by West Stormont Woodland Group’s chairman, Murray Gauld, which said the consultation had not had “sufficient reach”.

Speaking on behalf of her sister and herself, Ms Coutts called for a deferral and said: “Many were not aware of the development until too late.”

Supporter Laura Burns – who lives closest to the application site, 560m away with her wife – told councillors of her long family connection with the farm and her desire to see it return to being a farm.

Ms Burns said: “My dad was born on this farm in 1930. His father was a tenant farmer at that time, so my family tenanted this farm for over 100 years. It was an arable and poultry farm and always has been; as long as my dad and his family were tenants, that’s what it was.

“We see a small pocket of the current derelict buildings, which are an eyesore. I’m the closest neighbour, and it saddens me to see them.”

She added: “I’d like the farm to return to being a farm. I’ve heard lots of comments about farming being intensive – we’re in 2026, farming is intensive. It’s about high quality, high yield, low disease, and that’s exactly what Aviagen provides.”

Ms Burns – who has lived in her family home for 50 years – said trees planted by Aviagen, since they took ownership, had brought back wildlife.

Addressing transport concerns, Ms Burns highlighted how the steading was previously occupied by a local haulage business and had HGVs going back and forward three or four times a day, “full of rubble”.

Ms Burns – who works from home – also claimed traffic had “halved” since the opening of Destiny Bridge.

She said: “I have no concerns about lorries. These are agricultural vehicles feeding the farm – that’s what farms do.”

Ms Burns said the consultation had been “fantastic” and added: “They chapped on my door within a couple of weeks of buying the property, they’ve been in regular contact with me since.”

She added: “If you’re going to live in the country, you’re going to get agricultural vehicles and smells. It’s a farm asking to be a farm, can we just have common sense prevailing?”

Ms Burns visited an Aviagen site – which she described as “a carbon copy” of the Newbigging proposal – and described it as “spotless” with “no noise” and “no smell”.

Aviagen UK manager Ivor Richmond told councillors: “We have six pedigree farms currently in Perthshire that we operate, and have done so for a long time. All of the staff are employed locally.

“Throughout Scotland, we have over 50 farms and employ nearly 800 people.”

A local contractor manages the arable land at Newbigging, and Mr Richmond insisted this would continue.

He said: “I grew up on an arable farm in Northern Ireland, and it would be a waste not to do this going forward.

“Our plans for Newbigging, from a chicken point of view, is to nurture the very best chickens we have, arriving as young birds about five weeks old and leaving about 20 [weeks old], heading off to another one of our pedigree lay farms.”

Mr Richmond said they leafleted locally, held public meetings, engaged with locals, put up placards, took local residents in a minibus or cars to visit their poultry farms and “tried our very best” in terms of public consultation.

Addressing the water supply concerns, Mr Richmond said: “It’s a mains supply. To manage chickens we need to have 48 hours of storage of water on the farm.”

He explained the tank would fill from the mains 24 hours a day. Scottish Water had no objection and said there was “currently sufficient capacity in the Perth Water Treatment Works” for the development.

Moving the plans for approval, local Conservative Strathtay ward councillor Ian James said: “I educated myself by visiting one of their facilities and animal welfare, hygiene, and cleanliness are all very much at the top of the list. All the issues residents have an issue with have been addressed and will be addressed.”

It was seconded by Conservative councillor David Illingworth and unanimously approved by the committee.