Fairglen Farms plans to expand chicken farm near Manilla after Baiada expansion

Formerly known as Kerribee, the property is now known as Burrii, and already has five sheds that can contain as many as 247,000 birds.

Fairglen Farms last month lodged planning documents with Tamworth Regional Council to add an extra three sheds and bring total capacity to 400,000 animals.

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Planning documents show the $2,941,989.00 project, which is located about halfway between Manilla and Tamworth, is designed to take advantage of the planned $203 million expansion of the Tamworth Baiada processing plant.

"The proposed development is a strategic part of a long term plan to make Tamworth a hub for chicken meat production in line with the Regional Plan," the documents say.

"A do-nothing approach will lead to other sites that may not be in such a prime location being established for poultry that may have greater environmental impact."

The expansion of the farm will add an additional five to 10 jobs, a mix of full time and casual workers, to the industry.

The company also commits in the planning documents submitted to Tamworth council to preferentially hire locals.

"The proprietors want to continue to look to locals for employment rather than seasonal workers and backpackers," the documents say.

"Supporting the community and building relationships with the local high school to look to provide employment opportunities for young people. Indirectly, the expansion of the poultry farm will provide for increased consumer spending within Manilla, the closest town to the west for goods and supplies."

The documents claim the development will have "minimal environmental impact on the surrounding area" and that the existing farm had already degraded the local environment.

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Like an earlier 1.5 million bird facility near Manilla, the proposed development provides contract growing to the Baiada/Steggles group.

Fairglen Farms bought the property, which has served as a poultry farm for about 20 years, earlier this year.

Owned by former media baron John Fairfax, the agriculture company moved into Tamworth in 2020.

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