A farming couple have had their life-long wish granted as plans have been approved for a massive chicken shed near Huntly.
Alistair and Rebecca McBain have been given the green light for the major development at Stoneyhill farm, which will house 32,000 birds to supply eggs to Duncan Farms.
Plans reveal how they will demolish the run-down farmhouse and surrounding sheds at the Corse spot to press on with their expansion.
The pair told council planners that it had “been their dream from a young age” to run their own farm business, with them now finally having the chance to do so.
What are the plans?
They will first clear the site before erecting the huge new shed big enough to house 32,000 birds.
The farmhouse was last listed for sale at £200,000, but with no interested buyers, the farming duo have decided to knocked down the home which was “in a poor state of repair”.
Once up and running, the farm could produce millions of eggs per year, which will then be sent on to the Duncan Farms packaging plant in Turriff.
Duncan Farms’ eggs are a familiar sight in supermarkets, with Morrisons stocking cartons in stores all across the country.
‘From a young age we dreamed of establishing our own farm’
Alistair and Rebecca McBain had always hoped that one day they would be able to run their own farm.
During the planning phase for their new chicken shed, the pair told Aberdeenshire Council: “For as long as we can remember we have been passionate about the agricultural industry.
“From a young age, we have dreamed of establishing and growing a successful farm business.”
They started off in 2020, farming sheep and malting barely at Stoneyhill Farm, but the pair believed that this wasn’t enough.
They told council chiefs they needed their poultry expansion “to make their business viable”.
And the new expansion couldn’t be in better hands thanks to Alistair’s “eggs-pertise”…
Running his own egg operation at 16 years old
Back in 2010, a 16-year-old Alistair McBain hit the headlines for his own poultry operation.
At his family home, he started off with 10 chickens, before ending up with a whopping 42 hens running around his back garden…
He would sell fresh eggs from his flock to friends, relatives and even his school teachers to earn some extra pocket money.
And after leaving school, Alistair didn’t have any second thoughts about continuing in the poultry business.
He is currently the Farm Operations Manager at Duncan Farms, where his Stoneyhill eggs will end up before arriving on supermarket shelves.
During his time at Duncan Farms, the 30-year-old farmer won a Mark and Spencer’s award for sustainable farming.
You can view the full plans here.
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