Queensland Guidelines: Meat Chicken Farms - Department of ...

Material change of use – Defined in the Operational Policy as a 'material change in intensity or
scale for an environmentally relevant activity (ERA)' (Environmental Protection Agency, 2004a).
There needs to be a change in the intensity or scale and the change needs to be a material one.
Meat chicken farm complex – Includes the sheds used to produce meat chickens and associated
infrastructure (e.g. silos) and any nearby spent litter/compost stockpiles. It excludes any spent litter
utilisation areas. For tunnel-ventilated sheds it includes a distance of 25 m out from the exhaust
end of the sheds.
Must – Refers to a requirement that needs to be complied with to meet relevant legislation,
including acts, policies or regulations.
Non-rural zone – Land that is not zoned as the rural zone in local government planning schemes.
Night-time – The period between 10.00 pm and 7.00 am.
Odour units (OU) – Concentration of odorous mixtures measured in odour units. The number of
odour units is the concentration of a sample divided by the odour threshold or the number of
dilutions required for the sample to reach the threshold. This threshold is the numerical value at
which 50 per cent of a testing panel correctly detect an odour.
Olfactometry – A procedure where a selected and controlled panel of up to eight screened and
trained panelists are exposed to a series of diluted odour samples in a controlled sequence. The
odour concentration results are analysed using standard methods to determine the point at which
half the panel can detect the odour.
Pathogens - Organisms that can cause infections or disease, such as a bacterium, viruses, fungi
or protozoa.
Poultry Farming (ERA 4) - Farming a total of more than 1000 birds for:
producing eggs or fertile eggs
rearing hatchlings, starter pullets or layers
rearing birds for meat:
- chickens
- ducks
- geese
- guineafowl
- turkeys.
Pollution – Direct or indirect alteration of the environment causing contamination or degradation.
Prescribed ventilated shed – A shed that is fitted with a mechanical ventilation system, is not
tunnel ventilated and has a water-based cooling system or stirring fans.
Referral agencies – Defined in the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 as an advice agency or a
concurrence agency.
Riparian land – Any land that adjoins or directly influences a body of water. It includes the land
immediately beside creeks and rivers (including the bank), gullies that sometimes run with water,
areas surrounding lakes and wetlands and river floodplains that interact with the river during flood
times.
Queensland Guidelines Meat Chicken Farms 41