Mellieħa residents are objecting to plans for a new chicken farm next door to the site where an illegal one was built some years ago.

In a petition bearing more than 80 signatures, residents have called on the planning authority to reject the application for the facility, which would include a manure clamp, an underground reservoir and cesspits.

Residents fear smells will plague the area given the prevailing winds

The proposed development is earmarked for the Tat-Tomna area, just off the Mellieħa bypass, at the top of Ta’ Pennellu Hill, and is fewer than 200 metres from houses. The area is outside the development zone.

The site is adjacent to another owned by the same applicant where a chicken farm was built illegally some years ago.

Its owner had unsuccessfully sought to sanction the farm in 2008 and an enforcement order was issued three years later.

The straight-line distance between the proposed new site and the closest houses on the bypass is about 178 metres, according to the online map server of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

Residents argued that a distance of under 200 metres violated the planning authority’s policies.

Mellieħa mayor John Buttigieg said the council’s objection to the proposed development was based on its proximity to the residential area and a football ground that was also within the 200-metre radius. Residents fear foul smells from the farm will plague the area given that houses are on the receiving end of prevailing winds.

Another objection is that the proposed development lies close to a water pumping station operated by Water Services Corporation that taps into the perched aquifer straddling Mellieħa ridge.

The planning authority will be receiving objections to the development until tomorrow.

The target date for determining the application is January 1.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com