Chicken farm row heads for high court date

Campaigners will be heading to the High Court to challenge the expansion of a chicken farm in north Shropshire.

A member of environmental group River Action will challenge Shropshire Council’s decision made earlier this year to approve four new chicken sheds in Felton Butler, set to house up to 230,000 birds.

The council’s northern planning committee granted permission for the scheme in May, after plans were first lodged by LJ Cooke and Son in 2017.

At the committee, residents had urged the planning authority to take a “wider view” on the environmental impact scheme due to the number of chicken farms already operating in the area, with one councillor describing the area as the “chicken capital of Shropshire”.

The application was approved after applicants said the development would be an “industry leading” scheme with specialist emissions and odour scrubbing technology.

However the judicial review brought by campaigners will now determine if the council properly considered the effects of spreading manure, the emissions from burning biomass and risks of groundwater pollution before granting permission.

The court decided to not to allow two of the grounds for challenge, including that the development would not adversely affect the integrity of habitats at nearby protected sites at Hencott Pool and Fenmere.

River Action says it intends to appeal the decision, which they say has disallowed the “most important issue” as grounds for appeal.

“Shropshire Council has continued to grant planning permission for intensive poultry units across the county, despite increasing concern about the impacts on the Shropshire countryside and communities,” said River Action board member Dr Alison Caffyn.

“The chicken population has grown so much that there are now nearly 65 chickens for every person in Shropshire. And it appears that the Council has not been properly assessing the impacts of all that extra manure and ammonia emissions on our rivers and special habitats. We need them to stop allowing ever more levels of unsustainable industrial agriculture in Shropshire.”

In a statement, Shropshire Council said it had sought advice from technical consultees in making its determination, including the Environment Agency and Natural England.

“The application was accompanied by an Environmental Statement which included detailed assessments of the likely impacts of the proposal on the environment,” said a spokesperson.

“As part of the planning application process, technical advice was sought from consultees including the Environment Agency, Natural England, and the Council’s Ecology and Public Protection teams. The biomass boilers are intended to be used for heating the poultry buildings. These are low capacity and would not output emissions that would cause a significant effect on the environment which would need to be considered as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment.

“The proposed development would not result in any manure being spread on land. It would instead be transported off-site to an anaerobic digester or other suitable disposal or treatment facility. “