Ruling on Shropshire chicken sheds bid held up over river pollution fears

The two large-scale sheds at Hurst Barn, Clunton, near Clun, were recommended to be given the go-ahead at a Shirehall meeting this week but were pulled from the agenda at the eleventh hour after Natural England insisted it had, in fact, objected, though council planners had no record of this.

The poultry sheds are controversial because they are planned near to the River Clun, which is a protected habitat for the rare fresh water pearl mussel, and any pollution could result in severe damage to mussel populations.

The plans have provoked a raft of objections from Clun Town Council, Clunbury Parish Council, Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership and Avron, a charity that runs The Hurst creative writing centre nearby.

Nancy Adams, clerk of Clunbury Parish Council, said the environmental impact of the poultry sheds at Hurst Barn could be substantial, "particularly with regard to odour and dust pollution, the increase in heavy vehicles and noise of traffic through a residential area, and the potential 'never' event of pollution of the River Clun during the increasing freak weather conditions."

But Shropshire Council planners said Natural England, the Environment Agency and Shropshire Council's ecology department have not objected.

Just days before the decision was due, however, Grady McClean, a lead adviser with Natural England, wrote to council planners to say: "This is not correct. Our response clearly states that we are requesting further information as part of the Habitats Regulation Assessment.

"As we have not states that we concur that there will be no adverse effect on the integrity of the River Clun SAC, you should consider this as an outstanding objection."

Grahame French, principal planning officer for Shropshire Council responded that there was no reference to Natural England objecting or requiring a formal re-consultation after the applicant had supplied details about how they would mitigate any environmental effects, which they had done.

He said it meant a delay of two months on deciding the application, since there was no meeting in January.

"It would be helpful if in commenting on future applications, greater clarity could be provided by Natural England and Shropshire Council ecology in formal consultation responses on when there is an outstanding objection and when there is an expectation of a formal re-consultation, to avoid a repetition of the current situation.

Two similarly-sized poultry sheds at Wigley Farm, on the northern edge of Ludlow, were given the go-ahead at Tuesday's Shirehall meeting. There were no objections from either official bodies or the general public. The farm already has 220,000 birds in four sheds, with a permit for the additional two pre-secured.

David Turner, vice chairman of Shropshire Council's south planning committee, said: "This is a very impressive operation. Clearly the operation as it is is well planned and screened."