Plans for an £8million chicken farm have been revised following opposition from the Environment Agency.

Cranbrook-based Fridays, which employs almost 300 people in the county, is seeking permission to build the controversial new farm with space for more than 190,000 hens south of Maidstone at Chainhurst.

People living near the 237-acre site at Reed Court Farm have objected to the movement of footpaths and also fear waste from the facility could pollute the farmland and the nearby River Beult.

Responding to the firm's initial planning application, the Environment Agency (EA) asked Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) to reject the scheme because it would have a "significant impact on the river-floodplain habitat corridor" and would hinder the restoration plan for an area of Special Scientific Interest.

This has prompted Fridays to submit a number of environmental amendments to the proposed development.

The updated plans include a tripling of the distance between the boundary fence and the River Beult from 8m to 25m, work to restore the river's health in line with the EA and Natural England River Beult Improvement Plan, and further measures to reduce run-off from the site.

Increasing the gap between the fence and the river will create a 11-acre buffer zone with a public footpath running through it, according to the revised application.

Graham Fuller, production Manager at Fridays, said: "In their response to the first round of consultation, the Environment Agency provided a very helpful roadmap for us to address the issues they had raised.

"We have since worked closely with them and these new proposals are the result.

"We were already confident the proposed new farm would have no overall adverse impact on the environment. With these new measures, we are now certain it will bring a broad range of significant environmental benefits."

If the plans for the development get the go-ahead from MBC, Fridays will erect three huge hen houses, each capable of housing around 64,000 chickens.

The company says the facilities are needed to cope with the increased demand for British-laid eggs.

Opposition from people living in the area has been organised by the We Love Chainhurst group, while animal rights pressure group PETA has also submitted a 15,000-signature petition against the plans.

Kevin Back, a typographer and member of We Love Chainhurst, said campaigners were delighted by the show of support from those who signed the petition.

He said: "We are not against chicken farming outright, we understand British farming has got to happen to feed us all, we oppose this because this kind of industrial-size development is just in the wrong place."

However, Mr Fuller hit back at the vegan activists for presenting a petition signed by people from right across the globe.

He said: "PETA's agenda is to promote veganism and to prevent any animal-based farming so it is not surprising they would automatically seek to discredit our proposals.

"Nor is it surprising that they can get their international network of activists to sign up to an emotionally-worded petition that has little basis in fact.

"A quick glance at the petition shows the signatories seem to come from all over the place, including the Far East and Russia."

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