Campaigner wins High Court appeal over poo pollution fears

PLANS for farm buildings that could hold 200,000 chickens in Shropshire have been blocked after the High Court overturned planning permission.

- JESS GLASS News Reporter

Researcher Alison Caffyn brought legal action against Shropshire County Council over plans to build four poultry buildings on a nine-hectare site at Felton Butler, near Shrewsbury after the authority granted planning permission in May 2024.

At a two-day hearing in April, the High Court in Cardiff was told that the “indirect effects” of spreading manure produced by the chickens should have been assessed.

The site, farmed by L J Cooke and Son, is 2.6km from the River Severn, with Dr Caffyn raising concerns about river catchments, where nitrogen and phosphate could end up from poultry manure.

And in a decision this week, Mr Justice Fordham quashed the planning permission.