Campaigners kick up stink over chicken farm pollution threat

The proposed intensive poultry farm at Matthew Bower’s Footbridge Farm in Tasley, near Bridgnorth, has been under consideration for more than four years by Shropshire Council. It would involve building four large sheds to rear up to 1.5 million broiler chickens.

Tasley Action Group, made up of residents against the proposal, has been a vocal critic and it is now calling for a moratorium on new Industrial Poultry Units (IPUs) in light of their 'enormous' environmental impact.

It is estimated that the chickens would generate more than 3,000 tonnes of waste manure every year. The action group says odour-mitigation strategies which have been added to the proposal, including "air scrubber" units, aren’t convincing.

A spokesman said: "However you look at it, this proposal will generate vast amounts of pollution and dangerous greenhouse gases; you can try and 'mitigate' this all you want but the bottom line is that this chicken farm would still smell, even with air scrubbers.

"It would still pump greenhouse gases like methane and ammonia into the atmosphere. You can’t hide the massive environmental impact of factory farms like this. It’s an impact we really can’t afford."

Shropshire Council initially approved the proposal in 2017 despite strong local opposition. Following a legal battle, the Court of Appeal quashed that decision.

The proposal was resubmitted the same year with minor alterations. Since then Shropshire Council has declared a "climate emergency", with the aim of helping the county become carbon net-neutral by 2030.

IPUs, of which Shropshire has among the most in the country (housing over 17 million birds) are incompatible with this ambition, according to Tasley Action Group.

"The fact that Shropshire Council haven’t taken a stand against this proposal, and IPUs in general, is an insult to the people of Bridgnorth and another nail in the coffin of the climate action we so desperately need," said action group member Harvey Brown.

"It seems the council doesn't care about building a green future for this town or Shropshire.

"They’ve ignored government recommendations by not allocating any land for wind turbine development in their Local Plan, and yet time and time again they’ve shown that they’re very happy to consider - and approve - proposals like this one.

"They’re not taking their ‘climate emergency’ seriously at all. If they cared anything about Bridgnorth or the environment they would scrap this Tasley Chicken Farm once and for all and place a moratorium on IPUs without any further delay."