Overview

• The High Court in Cardiff is reviewing River Action's legal challenge to Shropshire Council's approval of a poultry megafarm at Felton Butler.
• Campaigners claim the council failed to fully evaluate environmental impacts, including manure management and air pollution, before granting permission.
• The proposed 200,000-bird unit is part of a broader increase in intensive poultry farming in Shropshire, which already has one of the UK's highest chicken densities.
• Natural England initially recommended rejecting the project due to risks to nearby protected sites but later approved it after manure exportation to an anaerobic digester was proposed.
• The case highlights concerns over river pollution in the Severn and Wye catchments, with phosphates and ammonia from poultry waste harming ecosystems.