Legal challenge to chicken farm approval

The application for the chicken farm was approved by Shropshire Council in May

A legal challenge is being mounted over a decision to allow a large poultry unit to be be built.

In May, Shropshire Council approved an application by LJ Cooke & Son for a poultry production unit at Felton Butler, north-west of Shrewsbury

The unit will house 230,000 birds and campaign group River Action said it was funding the action to "prevent pollution by intensive agricultural practices" in the catchment area.

Andrew Cooke, the owner of LJ Cooke & Son said he had no comment "as it’s between the Shropshire Council and River Action”.

Shropshire Council said it was considering its position.

An application has been made by law firm Leigh Day for a judicial review into the council's decision.

The application argued the council failed to take a number of issues into account, including the effects of spreading manure and the emissions from burning biomass.

It also said the council had failed to impose a planning condition on manure processing, failed to carry out a proper assessment of the impact on a designated protected site and used out-of-date data on background ammonia levels.

'Unprecedented proliferation'

Charles Watson, chair of River Action, said: “One of the prime causes of the severe pollution of the River Wye was that when granting planning permission for the recent unprecedented proliferation of intensive factory farming units."

He said local authorities along that river's route had not properly considered the cumulative impact of the chicken farms on the river.

A Shropshire Council spokesman 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."

It also said it had included a number of conditions to regulate operations on the farm.