HMP Bullingdon prison governor objects to Bicester chicken farm plan

Laura Sapwell said she was concerned the stench could be so bad that it would stop prisoners wanting to go outside and exercise, which could impact their health.

Ms Sapwell is one of 195 people who have objected to the planning application for the massive facility just outside Bicester.

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Now Cherwell District Council is due to make a decision at a meeting today.

Writing to the council, Ms Sapwell said: "The impact of foul smells from the site, particularly in hot weather, for prisoners who may have to share a cell, which for safety and security reasons has small windows/vents, is significant.

"The prison regime limits prisoners’ choice about when they can be outside, and many will choose not to if the smell is particularly bad. This will impact negatively on health, safety and wellbeing."

She also warned: "The impact for staff having to work in similar conditions also cannot be underestimated."

Under the plans, the free-range egg production farm would be built in Lower Arncott, about a mile away from HMP Bullingdon, and also close to the villages of Blackthorn, Piddington and Ambrosden.

Proposals include a metal-clad poultry building, a gatehouse, garage, house and access from Palmer Avenue.

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The controversial plan was proposed last year but then withdrawn after receiving a huge backlash from residents and councils who were strongly against it.

Now, applicant W Potters & Sons Ltd has re-submitted its planning application, with a few changes, to the council.

Last year, more than 50 letters of objection were sent to the council, but this time 195 have been received – and two letters of support.

Planning officers have once again recommend that the council refuse the application and residents have sent in a list of objections to the farm including the smell from chicken faeces, flood risk and the effect of farm vehicles on village roads.

Anna Cartlidge from Ambrosden said: “We already have a chicken farm at the bottom of Ploughley Road and it smells rotten every time they clean them out.

“It is not a pleasant smell and we have to keep windows and doors shut in the summer months and hot weather. I feel we do not need another chicken farm up the road. It would be double the smell which would be very unpleasant to handle.”

Mary Smith, from Upper Arncott, said: “Is there really a need for this site?

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"The proposed site is prone to flooding. At the moment flies are a problem in the summer making it a health hazard, the proposed site will make it harder still to cope with this.

“There is a similar site in Ambrosden which produces an acrid smell as it is, this other proposal will produce similar odours, not to mention the vermin that it will cause.

“Traffic will certainly increase with deliveries and removal of waste products. There is already a high volume of traffic with the MOD sites.”

The chicken farm would require bulk chicken feed delivered to the farm by six or eight-wheeler HGVs three times a month and stored in the silos on site.

The applicant has a provisional contract with a company to supply the free-range eggs, and also collect the eggs in a 7.5-tonne lorry three times a week.

Waste from the chickens is proposed to be cleared out using a conveyor belt system into a parked trailer outside the building.

Fourteen tonnes of manure would be removed from the site every 10 days using a sheeted tractor and trailer, but planning officers said there was conflicting information about this in the application.

The application will be discussed by Cherwell District Council's planning committee today at 2pm online.