How do you deal with this ?

[Bruce Almighty]

There are 2 derelict broiler houses on the edge of our village, redundant since 2002 and in the green belt.
I've mentioned it before in the buildings / planning section
The owner lives 5 miles away and he has nothing to do with village life etc

The owner has tried & failed with various planning applications since then - replacement chicken sheds, houses, offered it as a gypsy & traveller site to the council etc

His latest attempt is for pullet rearing, partly as its for eggs not meat, agricultural, etc
He also wants a managers bungalow there (20,000 birds on the 2 acre site)
It's less than 200m from the nearest houses.
His past record for pollution, rats, smell etc is shocking

There's been lots of complaints about noise, smell road safety and also some cranks talking about animal welfare / veganism etc

I have sympathy for most of the villagers.

Our problem now is that the local MP has jumped on the bandwagon suggesting villagers oppose it. He's written to villagers.

The reason it's a problem to us, is that his letter states the chicken farm application is at our farm, when it is not. (That's why we didn't receive a letter & I was tipped off by a neighbour about it )
I've emailed him & he's apologised & said he'll look into it - not much use when the animal rights nutters knock on the door

His facts are based on a local on-line newspaper article which even shows a photo of the end of our drive !
I've emailed them & told them we're seeking legal advice

The site is 1/4 mile away and has a different postcode to us !

What would you do ?
TIA

 

[Purli R]

Put a sign at your lane end with a big arrow pointing the way to your lovely neighbours chicken shed!

 

[Dry Rot]

Lawyers cost money. There are usually cheaper ways.

Prepare a bullet pointed list of the facts and threaten your local newspaper that you will lodge a complaint with these people (below) if they do not correct their errors:

The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO)

The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) is the independent regulator for the newspaper and magazine industry in the UK.

www.asa.org.uk

The Press mostly want to publish the truth but they are also in the business of selling newspapers. Controversy sells better than the banal truth, unfortunately.

Get evidence of what you say, then get up a petition within the village. Your MP is correct.

 

[kfpben]

Why are they objecting to the development of some knackered old chicken sheds?

We had some in the village ten years ago and built new industrial units on them without any bother.

 

[Cab-over Pete]

Does the same old boy live in the house next to the sheds who thought my bit of lime dust would “strip the skin from inside his lungs, render him blind and melt the new upvc window frames in his house”?

He didn’t think it at all funny when I said if he was blind then he wouldn’t have to worry about his windows.

If he’s still there I can’t imagine him being happy with any developments whatsoever

 

[matthew]

Your MP and the local rag have to correct their errors asap. The consequences of this to you could be considerable.

That your MP will 'look into it', is not good enough by a long way. He's jumped off his comfortable fence, and got it very wrong. Doesn't say a lot for his investigative skills, nor those of the local rag either.

Come down hard on both. Very hard.

 

[kmo]

There are 2 derelict broiler houses on the edge of our village, redundant since 2002 and in the green belt.
I've mentioned it before in the buildings / planning section
The owner lives 5 miles away and he has nothing to do with village life etc

The owner has tried & failed with various planning applications since then - replacement chicken sheds, houses, offered it as a gypsy & traveller site to the council etc

His latest attempt is for pullet rearing, partly as its for eggs not meat, agricultural, etc
He also wants a managers bungalow there (20,000 birds on the 2 acre site)
It's less than 200m from the nearest houses.
His past record for pollution, rats, smell etc is shocking

There's been lots of complaints about noise, smell road safety and also some cranks talking about animal welfare / veganism etc

I have sympathy for most of the villagers.

Our problem now is that the local MP has jumped on the bandwagon suggesting villagers oppose it. He's written to villagers.

The reason it's a problem to us, is that his letter states the chicken farm application is at our farm, when it is not. (That's why we didn't receive a letter & I was tipped off by a neighbour about it )
I've emailed him & he's apologised & said he'll look into it - not much use when the animal rights nutters knock on the door

His facts are based on a local on-line newspaper article which even shows a photo of the end of our drive !
I've emailed them & told them we're seeking legal advice

The site is 1/4 mile away and has a different postcode to us !

What would you do ?
TIA

@GeorgieB82 gave me some advice about incorrect planning addresses. He can explain it better than I can.

 

[SteveHants]

Not sure about layers, but the broiler companies would want their own standards of shed, suitable biosecurity etc etc.

His record would be immaterial, the company would control all aspects of production.

 

[Bruce Almighty]

Put a sign at your lane end with a big arrow pointing the way to your lovely neighbours chicken shed!

I don't want to do that as it might suggest that we are connected to them.
A sign with "no chicken sheds here" might work though ?

Why are they objecting to the development of some knackered old chicken sheds?

We had some in the village ten years ago and built new industrial units on them without any bother.

It's green belt & agricultural use only.
Even if it was an industrial estate, security would be a nightmare

 

[Bruce Almighty]

Does the same old boy live in the house next to the sheds who thought my bit of lime dust would “strip the skin from inside his lungs, render him blind and melt the new upvc window frames in his house”?

He didn’t think it at all funny when I said if he was blind then he wouldn’t have to worry about his windows.

If he’s still there I can’t imagine him being happy with any developments whatsoever

I'm surprised at that response if it's the same old boy I know, he's a friend & worked in manufacturing in Birmingham before he retired, not the healthiest of industries !

 

[Brisel]

There are 2 derelict broiler houses on the edge of our village, redundant since 2002 and in the green belt.
I've mentioned it before in the buildings / planning section
The owner lives 5 miles away and he has nothing to do with village life etc

The owner has tried & failed with various planning applications since then - replacement chicken sheds, houses, offered it as a gypsy & traveller site to the council etc

His latest attempt is for pullet rearing, partly as its for eggs not meat, agricultural, etc
He also wants a managers bungalow there (20,000 birds on the 2 acre site)
It's less than 200m from the nearest houses.
His past record for pollution, rats, smell etc is shocking

There's been lots of complaints about noise, smell road safety and also some cranks talking about animal welfare / veganism etc

I have sympathy for most of the villagers.

Our problem now is that the local MP has jumped on the bandwagon suggesting villagers oppose it. He's written to villagers.

The reason it's a problem to us, is that his letter states the chicken farm application is at our farm, when it is not. (That's why we didn't receive a letter & I was tipped off by a neighbour about it )
I've emailed him & he's apologised & said he'll look into it - not much use when the animal rights nutters knock on the door

His facts are based on a local on-line newspaper article which even shows a photo of the end of our drive !
I've emailed them & told them we're seeking legal advice

The site is 1/4 mile away and has a different postcode to us !

What would you do ?
TIA

Your MP has a duty to set the record straight - another letter stating that they had got the address wrong. Fire some f*cks into the local rag too - make a nuisance of yourself.

Have you had much backlash from the villagers yet?

 

[Bruce Almighty]

Your MP has a duty to set the record straight - another letter stating that they had got the address wrong. Fire some f*cks into the local rag too - make a nuisance of yourself.

Have you had much backlash from the villagers yet?

No backlash from the villagers as they know it's nothing to do with us.
It was neighbours / villagers who tipped me off that we had been dragged into this.
We have an excellent reputation in the village, I was a Parish Councillor & on village hall committee but stood down recently when my wife was diagnosed with Parkinson's

I'm told MP will be sending letters correcting his mistake & apologising to us

Local rag is mainly on-line, they told me this morning they'd taken it off their website & very apologetic
I had to ring them back this afternoon as they hadn't taken it out of their digital edition. They've promised a full apology in next week's edition & any publicity we might want - I don't really want any publicity but did wonder about a photo with my son & nephews with some cows grazing in a field - I'd rather be associated with that (which is what we do) than intensive poultry farming (that most of the village seem to hate))

 

[Brisel]

Sounds like a reasonable outcome if that all happens

 

[Cab-over Pete]

I'm surprised at that response if it's the same old boy I know, he's a friend & worked in manufacturing in Birmingham before he retired, not the healthiest of industries !

It’s going back twenty years or more because it was my Dad that got most of the backlash.

Never mind, sounds like you’ve got a good outcome