Plans for a chicken breeding farm that would house up to 30,000 birds have been given the go-ahead by council officers.

The plans submitted on behalf of BHF Poultry would see three huge chicken rearing sheds built on land to the south of Hall Road in Bedingfield near Eye.

Each barn will be big enough to hold 15,000 chickens, however, only two of the three would be operational during each of the plant’s six-week cycle.

The poultry company plan to build the three barns over a four-month period and then hope to sell chickens across the UK and Europe.

However, the plans have been met with objections from locals who cited concerns over smell and noise pollution.

Southolt Parish Council have opposed the application due to their proximity to the site.

In a statement addressed to planning officers, parish clerk, Jill Erben said: “There appears to be no regard for the health and well-being of the local population.

“We consider that any noise or light pollution is an aggravation to residential amenity.

“It appears that waste matter will be collected at the end of each six-week cycle and stored until the end of the growing cycle and spread on fields.

“This approach will surely lead to contamination in the removal and storage stages and spreading will add to the pollution of the local land.”

However, in the application BHF Poultry tackled the concerns of many of the locals.

The application said: “It is acknowledged that the poultry developments have the potential to affect the amenities enjoyed by local residents due to odour and noise emissions. Careful consideration has therefore been given to these matters.

“Compared to a typical broiler farm, the proposed development would be relatively small in scale and low key in operation.”

The application concluded that the sounds and smell impact on the surrounding area would be “low”.

Alongside the three breeding sheds, an administration block, service team block, three weigh rooms, pump room, six feed silos, a water tank and six LPG tanks would also be built on the site.

A new access road for the site would be located off Hall Road.

The application suggests that an average of 12 two-way commercial vehicle movements per week will be generated by the proposal.