Ciney Chicken Farm Project Sparks Outrage Among Residents

A proposed industrial chicken farm in the village of Leignon, near Ciney in Wallonia, has ignited fierce opposition from local residents who fear environmental contamination, landscape degradation, and a threat to their quality of life. The project — a 2,000 m² hangar housing 39,000 chickens — has become the latest flashpoint in a growing debate over the expansion of industrial poultry farming in rural Belgium.

Background and Permit Controversy

The project, led by farmer Pierre Cosse, was initially rejected in July 2025 by the Ciney municipal college, which cited negative opinions from all consulted authorities. Walloon Minister of Land Planning François Desquesnes also turned down the application. But after Cosse appealed to the Walloon Mediator — an independent dispute resolution body — the Mediator issued a report recommending the permit be granted, arguing that objections targeted the location rather than the activity itself and that no major environmental issues had been identified.

On May 27, 2026, Minister Desquesnes reversed his earlier decision and granted the permit through a “retrait-redélivrance” procedure. Cosse began earthworks on the site — a potato field on a ridge line along Rue du Sacré-Coeur — on June 16, 2026.

Legal Challenge and Municipal Response

The very next day, a citizen collective filed an urgent suspension appeal with Belgium’s Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, which must respond by the end of July 2026. The Ciney municipal college has also announced plans to contest the permit before the Council of State.

Alderman for Land Planning Frédérick Botin expressed frustration with the process, telling Matélé that the municipality wants the court to rule on what he called an unprecedented intervention by the Mediator that led to the permit being granted “without us having had the opportunity to present our arguments.” Botin emphasized that the town is not opposed to poultry farming in principle but objects to this specific location on a visible ridge line.

Residents’ Concerns: Water, Landscape, and Local Value

Nicolas Le Hardy, a direct neighbor and leading opponent of the project, voiced fears about groundwater contamination. “The first major issue is water,” he told RTBF. “We are on a large water reserve. We are very afraid of contamination of the groundwater tables.” He noted that no environmental impact study had been conducted regarding the consequences for the local water supply, which serves homes in the area without a distribution network.

Pierre Granville, president of the ASBL Ciney Environnement, argued that the project offers no economic benefit to the community. “The chicks and the feed come from abroad. The fattened chickens go back where they came from. So for Ciney, it brings no added value,” he told RTBF. Granville also highlighted the visual impact: “These large buildings, the silos, all the installations will be on this ridge line. There is a very significant landscape impact.”

The Farmer’s Perspective

Pierre Cosse, the farmer behind the project, defended his plans as essential for his family’s future. “It’s not industrial, otherwise I would have had to set up on an industrial estate,” he told DH/Les Sports+. “Here, I am in an agricultural zone, I am far from the village, I am not bothering anyone and I am just doing my job.” Cosse noted that his two sons, aged 20 and 16, wish to join the family operation, making the expansion necessary.

He also pointed to a structural problem in Wallonia: slaughter and processing capacity is insufficient for large volumes, forcing him to turn to Flanders. “It’s ideological,” he said of the opposition. “I am not for organic farming but I respect those who choose that path.”

Broader Context: A Surge in Poultry Permits

The Ciney dispute is unfolding against a backdrop of explosive growth in poultry farming permit applications across Wallonia. According to RTBF, applications surged from 15 in 2024 to 72 in 2025 — a 380% increase. Over the past 25 years, broiler chicken production in Wallonia has more than doubled from 3 million to 7 million birds, while egg production rose from 1.2 million to 2 million laying hens.

Benoit Keller, a chicken farmer and representative of the Collège des Producteurs, explained the driving force: “Consumers decide. Beef consumption is falling. But chicken and egg consumption is growing strongly. And in Wallonia we only produce half of what we consume.” The rest is imported from Flanders, the Netherlands, and even Ukraine.

Farms under 40,000 birds — a threshold the Ciney project narrowly falls below — do not require a full environmental impact study, a regulatory gap that critics say allows projects to proceed without adequate scrutiny.

What’s Next

The Council of State’s decision, expected by the end of July 2026, will determine whether construction can continue or must be suspended. The case could set a precedent for the role of the Walloon Mediator in land-use disputes and may fuel calls for regulatory reform as the tension between rising poultry consumption, farmer livelihoods, and environmental protection intensifies across Wallonia.