Egg producer Fridays has submitted a planning application to Maidstone council for a giant chicken farm at Chainhurst, near Marden.

The application went in on Wednesday and is still waiting to be"validated" by planning officers before the proposal is considered.

The company, one of the three largest egg suppliers in the country, with its headquarters in Cranbrook, said it would be investing £8m in the scheme for three large chicken sheds on a 237-acre site.

Fridays said the "environmentally friendly, free range egg farm" would have state-of-the-art hen houses while the birds would have ample space to roam.

The scheme includes the planting of 36,000 native trees on what is currently an arable farm to create 20 hectares of new woodland.

Other environmental initiatives include removing manure from the houses for treatment in a nearby anaerobic digestion plant to produce biogas for export to the grid and an odourless agricultural fertiliser.

In addition, the hen houses will have roof-mounted solar panels which, along with the other steps, aim to make the farm’s operations carbon neutral.

Since the proposal was first announced it has been amended in light of feedback from residents and local councillors.

This includes siting one of the units further from the nearest residential properties, taking the internal access roads further away from the boundary, making better use of shielding offered by existing trees, and improving the connectivity between the two blocks of mature woodland on site.

Production manager Graham Fuller said: “Demand for free range eggs continues to rise, exceeding what the country currently produces and leaving us dependent on imported eggs that are often produced to lower welfare standards.

“Our plans for Wealden Woods would lessen that dependence by supplying some 60m eggs for the UK market from a facility that will comply with or exceed the RSPCA Assured standard.

"It will be as good as our nearby free range farm that is held up by Compassion in World Farming as an example of best practice."

“This new farm would operate to the highest environmental and welfare standards, improve food security, create jobs and be part of our ongoing investment in Kent’s rural economy.”

Each of the proposed hen houses would accommodate up to 64,000 hens and incorporate the latest farming technologies for feed and water delivery systems and ventilation.

Manure produced by the hens would be regularly removed by conveyor belt direct to a covered trailer and taken from the site to the anaerobic digestion plant.

The company said the application was accompanied by an Environmental Statement and a full suite of technical documents prepared by appropriate experts. These include a report from the UK’s largest independent agricultural and environmental agency, ADAS, showing the change of use is expected to lead to a net reduction in the amount of phosphorous and nitrates being deposited on the land.

The planning application will be opposed by local residents who have formed a group called We Love Chainhurst.

Anthony Drewe, one of the co-ordinators, said: "We are just waiting for the official planning application number and then we shall begin our lobbying."

As well as concerns over lorry movements, noise, smell and flies, the group is most worried about the effect of the chicken manure washing into the delicate River Beult, an Area of Special Scientific Interest.

Mr Drewe said: "Fridays say the manure will have less phosphates and other chemicals than is used currently on the fields. But chickens soon strip the land of vegetation. They will leave it like a bare clay plate and the chemicals will wash down all the more easily."

Part of the application site is prone to flooding.

Mr Drewe said: "I walked round there this morning and the lower fields were already flooded from the River Beult breaking its banks."

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Details of the plans can be seen here.

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