No Broiler Farm Cooroy

Milligan's Chicken Meat Farm is awaiting approval to open a Factory Farm on Top Forest Road, Ridgewood, which will be 8 sheds housing thousands of chickens in extremely crammed conditions.

Please see below a selection of animal welfare, environmental and concerns for public safety, as reasons why we can NOT ALLOW this to go ahead.

1. “They (the chickens) have got so much space…” “He said the size of his sheds was chosen to allow for a lower density inside.”

FACT: A simple calculation shows that the 30,000 chickens per shed will have an average of less than half a square metre per bird – about the size of the average home doormat.

2.“These birds actually have to have full exercise components – that’s built into (the Ingham) agreement). They just don’t stay there … they’re not just bred to have large breasts.”

FACT: According to industry documentation, the birds are always confined to the sheds and are selectively bred to grow a large breast and to attain market weight with a high nutrition diet in less than six weeks.

3.While noise, dust, odour and visual amenity issues are of great concern to property neighbours, the wider community will be affected by potential water pollution and heavy vehicle traffic.

4.The annual 1,460 semi trailers (including B Doubles) and other associated vehicles using the winding sealed and unsealed rural roads will pose a danger to locals and tourists. This is especially acute to those who all have to share the Cooroy-Belli Creek Road, which recently has seen fatalities, with wide, heavy vehicles.

5. And while Nitrogen levels were discussed, there is no mention of how the applicant intends to ameliorate the excessive levels of Phosphorous which are found in composted broiler shed litter, and which, not being readily absorbed into the ground, are quickly leached into the surrounds and end up in the waterways. And since the endangered Giant Barred Frog is believed to be in the local waterways, there needs to be an EIS on the potential threat to its habitat.

Let us work together to prevent this atrocity happening in our own back yard!