PLANS for a chicken farm housing 144,000 birds near Rufforth Airfield have been thrown out by City of York councillors.

Farming company H Barker and Sons applied for permission to build three poultry sheds on a field to the west of an airfield used by York Gliding Club.

But aviation expert Mark Eddowes said the project posed a “significant risk” to the safety of glider aircraft, which use an established runway that points in the direction of the proposed buildings. Mr Eddowes told councillors at a planning committee meeting on Thursday: “The applicants appear to me to be adopting quite an unrealistically optimistic view that all these potential new risks would be entirely mitigated.”

Paul Leeming, speaking on behalf of the applicant, said: “The applicant has made significant concessions by reducing the scale of the proposal by almost half. The proposal will provide a high-quality food source meeting all welfare and environmental standards operating under the Environment Agency’s environmental permit regime contributing to national food security and to economic growth by creating new jobs and protecting those already in the industry.”

Cllr Chris Steward, who spoke against the proposals, said: “I’d love to oppose it on the animal welfare grounds. For me the deal-breakers are quite clear - transport and the harm to the gliding club.”

Cllr Mark Warters, a member of the committee, added: “We have been clearly told by an expert on aviation matters the implications of an approval.

“I certainly wouldn’t want to put my name to this if there was an accident in the future.”

The application was unanimously refused by councillors.