Planners refuse permission for poultry unit close to ‘precious' chalk stream

Yahoo

5 hours ago

Planners have turned down an application for a poultry unit housing up to 32,000 egg-laying hens in the floodplain of a 'precious' chalk stream.
Campaigners and local groups welcomed the decision by West Berkshire Council to reject the application for the new building that would house free-range chickens, over concerns it would harm the River Kennet.
West Berkshire Council refused planning permission on the grounds it would result in 'significant harm' to protected areas on the Kennet and Lambourn rivers and their floodplains, with potentially harmful effects from nutrient pollution from the chickens.
The site near Newbury, belonging to Sir Richard Sutton Limited, is close to the River Kennet Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and connected through the water system to several Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), officials said.
The Kennet is one of England's important chalk streams, which with their clear, flowing water fed from underground chalk aquifers and springs, provide habitat for an array of wildlife as well as water resources for people.
There are only around 200 in the world, most of them found in the southern half of England, making them an internationally rare habitat.
But campaigners warn the river, home to fish such as trout and grayling, is already under pressure from both sewage and agricultural pollution, as well as habitat degradation, and the potential increase in runoff from chicken manure could further degrade its ecological health.
Martin Salter, head of policy at the Angling Trust, welcomed the decision to refuse the development, which would have replaced existing free-range hen sheds housing 12,000 birds, as he warned of the wider issue of poultry polluting England's rivers.
Mr Salter, a long-time Kennet angler, said: 'It's been a long, hard campaign but I'm so pleased that common sense has finally prevailed and those of us who love and cherish Berkshire's most famous chalk stream can breathe a sigh of relief.'
And he said: 'Phosphate pollution from agriculture in general, and chicken production specifically, is now a major cause of pollution in many of our rivers with now only 14% of them meeting good ecological status under the Water Framework Directive.'
He warned of a 'massive nationwide increase in chicken production' in recent years, and said: 'The Angling Trust hopes that this decision demonstrates that it is possible to fight back against locating these highly toxic poultry units anywhere that puts our precious rivers at further risk.'
The issue of nutrient pollution from poultry production affects other rivers, most notably the Wye and its tributaries in England and Wales, prompting legal action and calls to prevent any further expansion of intensive chicken farms in at-risk catchments.