The Siġġiewi local council is to appeal a planning permit granted for the relocation of 12 cow farms, housing a total of 666 animals, to the countryside surrounding the village.

An action group against the government project will also be set up and will request an urgent meeting with Agriculture Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes.

The council held an urgent meeting on Tuesday evening, less than a week after the planning authority approved an outline permit for use by the cow farms of an area spanning about 70,000 square metres, 29,000 of them on virgin land.

The farms have to be moved because they are currently located in urban or historical sites and have to come in line with EU directives. The outline permit also includes a centralised dairy waste digester and waste conversion facility.

During the hearing at the planning authority, Siġġiewi mayor Karol Aquilina had objected on behalf of the council, saying the project would create foul smells and a visual blight.

In a statement, the council said it had unanimously taken a stand against the project way back in July 2012.

During the Tuesday meeting, Dr Aquilina proposed a motion, seconded by councillor Nicholas Cassar, saying that the council believed the project went against the locality’s interests and any objections should go beyond politics. It was unanimously approved.

The council also decided to set up an action group against the project and called upon Id-Dar tal-Providenza, which had also objected during the planning hearing, Qrendi local council and other groups and associations to join it.