A chicken producer at the centre of a row over fly infestations in a village near Halesworth has been given permission to build two new poultry houses and a gatehouse at a farm.
Crown Chicken has been given the go ahead to add the houses at Westhall Hall Farm in Strawberry Lane, Westhall, just a short distance from another facility at Wangford Road, Westhall, which has been at the centre of concerns that it has caused an increase in flies in nearby homes.
The farm already has five existing poultry sheds and a storage barn.
In a planning statement submitted to East Suffolk Council, the applicant's agent Charlie Davidson said the new poultry houses were designed to supply chickens "at the lowest possible carbon footprint" to Crown Chicken's processing plant at Eye.
READ MORE: Westhall residents say infestations 'from Crown Chicken'
He said regionally, the growing demand for British chicken had resulted in the creation of the £74million Eye processing plant and the farm would support Crown Chicken's supply chain, with a growing capacity for 84,998 broiler chickens on a seven-week cycle.
Broiler chickens are chickens that are bred solely for the purpose of meat production.
READ MORE: Westhall villagers are concerned about Crown Chicken farm
However, villager Peter Playle, who lives in Church Lane, raised concerns about the "unacceptable impact" of the development on roads in the area and was concerned about the movement of lorries between the firm's Wangford Road facility and Westhall Hall.
He added: "The site operators also have a facility on Wangford Road, Westhall which has caused the local residents ongoing problems with noise, smell and fly infestations.
"Although there are no immediate neighbours these sort of problems do travel quite easily to anyone within a mile of this facility."
READ MORE: Halesworth news
In April, this newspaper reported on the problems villagers were having with the Wangford Road site, which they blamed on it being a "breeder farm" where the eggs are hatched before being sent to broiler farms to be bred.
One said: "The fly situation is no joke and is affecting the local businesses (campsite next door)."
However, an East Suffolk Council spokesperson said an investigation by an independent entomologist had found no evidence of active fly infestations at the site.
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