Appeal against refusal for chicken farm plan is thrown out by inspector

The plan for the chicken farm at Footbridge Farm, in Tasley, near Bridgnorth, would have produced 1.5 million broiler chickens in four units each year.

It has been the subject of a long-running battle between local residents and the applicant – including a Judicial Review.

The proposal was most recently rejected by Shropshire Council's planning committee in November 2021 – despite being recommended for approval by the authority's officers.

The applicant, Matthew Bower, appealed against the decision and now a planning inspector has ruled against him, saying the development should not go ahead.

The ruling from inspector Bhupinder Thandi outlined concerns over the smell from the site, and the impact of ammonia on the nearby Thatchers Wood and Westwood Covert Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Campaigners, who have fought against the plan since 2016, have welcomed the decision, while Mr Bower's agent, Ian Pick Associates, said they would be taking legal advice on the ruling.

George Edwards, a Tasley parish councillor and a member of Tasley Action Group, which has opposed the proposals, said: "I think it is a decision that is well overdue. It is absolutely the right thing to do.

"For six years we have been telling the authorities about these issues and it has taken the planning inspector to finally get it right, and we are of course overjoyed at the result, as are many interested parties and people that have contributed – the local community, other people fighting other chicken farms. We do believe Shropshire Council needs to look at its policies now in regards to this kind of development."

A spokesman for Ian Pick Associates said: "The applicant is taking legal advice as to whether there is a way forward."

The development would have been made up of four poultry units, which would have operated on a 48-day growing cycle.

Under the plan, approximately 210,000 chicks would have been brought into the buildings. They would be reared for 38 days and then removed, leaving 10 days for the buildings to be cleaned and prepared for the next flock.

There would have been between seven and eight growing cycles a year – with approximately 1,575,000 broiler chickens reared over the course of the year.

Mr Thandi's ruling concluded that the smell from the site would affect nearby properties.

He said: "I am not satisfied that the odour assessment as submitted is sufficiently robust given the merits of the development proposed.

"Even if I were to take the assessment at face value it still demonstrates that odour resulting from the poultry sheds would unduly affect the living conditions of nearby occupiers."

Mr Thandi also referenced the potential for the creation of 'Tasley Garden Village' (TGV), a major housing development being put forward in Shropshire Council's as-yet-to-be-adopted, local plan.

He said: "One of the requirements of the site allocation is that any poultry unit operating within the site will cease before occupation of the first dwelling."

Mr Thandi said he did not see how that could be achieved – and added that if approved, the development would impact on future residents of the garden village.

He said: "There is a tension between the development proposed and the emerging local plan. The effect of allowing the appeal would, in my view, be two-fold.

"Firstly, it would undermine the local plan, TGV and the ambitions of the local community. Secondly, its operations would likely lead to the living conditions of future occupiers of the TGV being compromised.

"As such, I find that the proposed development would unduly affect future local development and its occupiers."

Mr Thandi also highlights the potential release of ammonia into the SSSI as a major reason for his judgement.

He said: "Thatchers Wood and Westwood Covert SSSI is located approximately 2.5km to the south-west of the site.

"The SSSI comprises a predominantly damp wood in the valley of Mor Brook with areas of dry rocky woodland on slopes in Westwood Covert.

"It is also designated as Ancient Woodland.

"The release of ammonia is an inevitable consequence of intensive poultry farming and the proposed air scrubbers would reduce ammonia release into the atmosphere to levels deemed acceptable by the EA.

"Despite the above it is evident that ammonia and nitrogen levels are already in excess of critical levels and loads at the SSSI thereby having an adverse impact upon it through eutrophication. In my view, the resultant pollutant levels would unacceptably result in the further degradation of the SSSI.

"Whilst benchmark ammonia levels have already been exceeded this is not justification to make an undesirable situation even worse."

He added: "I acknowledge that the council’s ecologist and Natural England did not raise objections to the planning application, however, this does not alter my conclusion in relation to this matter.

"As such, I conclude that the proposed development would adversely affect the Thatchers Wood and Westwood Covert SSSI by reason of ammonia concentration."

The plan for the farm was originally approved by Shropshire Council back in September 2017.

But a legal battle followed with a residents' group securing a judicial review, which it first lost at the High Court in June 2018, before winning at the Court of Appeal in May 2019.