VILLAGERS are up in arms over their community council’s vote in favour of a controversial broiler unit.

Opponents of plans for two chicken sheds claim their views were not taken into account when councillors voted three to two in favour of an application by farmer Andrew Lloyd to build a fertilised egg production unit at Lower House Farm on the outskirts of Clyro.

Alan Hood, the prospective Conservative candidate for Glasbury in the forthcoming Powys County Council elections, is now challenging that decision.

He believes the result, which included one abstention, was not a “true and accurate” representation of views expressed at the public meeting.

Mr Hood now plans to raise concerns about the matter.

“I am in the process of trying to approach the community council in relation to the procedure adopted,” he told the Hereford Times. “From the tone of the public meeting it was obvious that the opposition was far greater than the support. The vote did not reflect those views.”

More than 65 attended the public meeting which preceded the council meeting. Earlier, residents and councillors visited a similarly run poultry unit near Llanbadarn Fynydd.

Concerns were also raised about transport issues at the proposed site and its effects on the landscape and the habitat of the Great Crested Newt in an area downstream.

Posts on a Facebook page, Cluckoff show the level of feeling felt by those opposed to the plans.

Council chairman Brian Morgan, who took the deciding vote on the application, felt the application was preferable to the original application put forward in 2009 involving free-range chickens and claimed the proposed units would not be very tall.

“Personally I don’t think they’ll be that noticeable,” he said.

Councillor Morgan also pointed out that the community council was just a “small cog” in the whole procedure and that a final decision would be made by the county council.

Ben Corbett, agent for the applicant, said local concerns had “certainly been listened to”.

“Once all the issues are raised we can supply more information before the decision is made in due course,” he added.