Sustainability

Environmental Sustainability (cont)

The food consumption of fully grown laying hens is approximately 125Kg per day per 1000 hens, which is equivalent to approximately 56 tonnes per week for 64k hens. Some form of mill would obviously be required to produce this quantity of feed, but there is no mention on the planning application of an on - site food mix and production unit. It is therefore difficult to see how using CFL - produced cereals can contribute to sustainability if it has to be hauled offsite for milling and formulation.

Similarly, we question whether CFL have sufficient land to utilise the 2,800 tonnes of manure which will be produced by 64,000 hens, given that there are restrictions on the amount of nitrogen that can be applied to land (3). Haulage is likely to be involved in the disposal of the excess manure, once again increasing the carbon footprint of the operation.

Using published figures for greenhouse gas emissions associated both with site construction and egg production, we have calculated that for the development proposed, in the first year, including the construction phase, the annual greenhouse gas emission will be approximately equivalent to that produced by all the cars in Brechin.

In subsequent years, when the construction phase is completed, this will become approximately equivalent to the annual pollution caused by all the cars in Kirriemuir.

Nitrogen is an essential component in the diet of hens, and one third of the nitrogen they consume is converted into protein in the egg, the other two-thirds ultimately becomes ammonia or ammonia - related compounds. In the environment these products can break down to form nitrous oxide, which is three hundred times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide (1). These pollutants are an inevitable bi-product of egg production, whether free range or barn.

So, as we try to move towards a zero carbon economy in 2050, the pollution from vehicles will fall as we change to electric power, whereas the CFL hen sheds, and others like them, will continue to emit a plume of pollutants damaging to the health of neighbours, the wider environment and the planet.

Having a net zero effect on carbon output is a significant issue for Angus Council, which in the Angus Local Development Plan has stated the aim of "......making (Angus) a low carbon, natural and resilient place.... " (2). This development does not fit with this ambition.

Sustainability, in all its aspects is neatly summed up in the following diagram:To be fully sustainable it is necessary for the proposed development to position itself right at the centre of the diagram. Our group believes that we have sufficient hard evidence, and have identified sufficient reasonable doubt to conclude that this development is going to be anything but sustainable and as such should be refused.

This would seem to be an appropriate time for our Councils and the Government to stand firm and declare a moratorium on further development of intensive poultry units, until the damage to the health of local residents and to the environment, local and global, were better understood.