A farmer has been accused of trying to bribe locals with sacks of potatoes – so they’ll drop objections to his plan for two new chicken sheds.
Locals say they donated the 12kg bags of tatties to a food bank because they didn’t want to be influenced.
Angus Dowell has lodged plans to build two sheds to house 32,000 hens each, at Cononsyth Farm, near Friockheim, in Angus.
The hen sheds would supply eggs.
But residents are preparing a formal objection to the plan – fearful it will lead to bad smells and congestion in their rural corner of the county.
Dowell previously left a letter and a 12kg bag of potatoes at the door of several objectors.
Some of the residents then donated the potatoes to a foodbank in Forfar.
They were concerned taking them could be seen as accepting a “bribe”.
Cononsyth Protest Group member John Bell said: “We didn’t know what to do with the potatoes, or if it would be seen as a bribe if we accepted them, so we got them all together and took them to Forfar Foodbank, just to be safe.”
The group claims the plans are the “thin end of a wedge” and members are worried their approval could open the door to more intensive poultry unit construction across Tayside.
The applicant’s agent, Cogeo, said Dowell was “delighted” to hear that a “charitable facility” such as Forfar Foodbank benefited from his gift.
Dowell said four jobs will be created by the plans and he is “passionate” about selling local produce.
He said: “This project is an excellent addition to an arable farm . . . and sustainability is within our aspirations.”
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