A legal challenge has been launched over Shropshire Council’s decision to grant planning permission for a major intensive poultry unit.
Campaign group River Action applied for a judicial review over fears the River Severn catchment could be ‘devastated’ by a failure to enforce anti-pollution regulations.
Permission was granted in May for four poultry buildings that would house 230,000 birds, around 400m from an existing unit believed to house nearly half a million.
The claimant, Dr Alison Caffyn, has applied for a judicial review on several grounds, including that there was a breach of regulations that require the council to take steps to avoid the deterioration of habitats at protected sites.
Dr Caffyn said: ‘Enough is enough. We simply cannot allow the creation of more of these giant clusters of polluting poultry units.
‘Before we know it, the River Severn will soon be suffering the same pollution load as the neighbouring Wye – all because of these misguided and ill-informed planning decisions by Shropshire Council.’
The local authority said it was considering its position after receiving a claim form for judicial review.
A council spokesperson said: ‘The decision to grant planning permission for four poultry buildings at North Farm was made having taken full account of the likely environmental impacts of the proposal on the environment, including on water resources.’
