River campaigners have launched a legal challenge in the High Court against Shropshire Council, seeking to prevent the expansion of a poultry farm in the River Severn catchment area.
The challenge targets the proposed construction of a 230,000-bird facility near Shrewsbury, which campaigners argue is part of a "reckless and unsustainable" rise in "intensive factory farming" in the region.
The case could set a precedent for local authorities across the UK, compelling them to assess the cumulative environmental impacts of new agricultural developments.
River Action, the environmental charity supporting the case, argues that the combined effects of multiple poultry units could lead to "ecological death by a thousand poultry units."
Campaigners are hopeful that the legal action will raise the bar for what authorities must consider before approving similar developments.
The judicial review, being heard at the Cardiff Civil Justice Centre, is supported and funded by River Action and led by local campaigner and advisory board member Dr Alison Caffyn.
She commented on the issue: “There are now nearly 65 chickens for every person in Shropshire – and the council is allowing even more.
"We believe huge volumes of chicken muck are leaching into our rivers. They need to call a halt to it.”
Ricardo Gama, solicitor at Leigh Day, the firm representing Dr Caffyn, said: “This is an important case in establishing the approach which planning authorities need to take.
"Our client believes that the failure by authorities to properly look at the cumulative impacts of the industrial levels of manure and other waste which these developments produce has led to the Wye and Severn river catchments being inundated with waste.”
This hearing follows last month’s landmark judgment in NFU v Herefordshire County Council, which saw the High Court declaring farming manure as a waste.
This move is set to have huge implications, forcing new poultry farms to put in place arrangements for dealing with the volumes of manure that is produced.
