New threshold makes things tougher for poultry plans
The last three years in particular has seen many planning applications for 16,000 or 32,000 bird free-range egg laying units in Shropshire and Powys.
Following a High Court case in spring 2017 NRW in Powys and Shropshire Council’s ecology team have wished to work on lower ammonia thresholds, to provide greater protection for certain environmental features, Sites of Scientific Interest, Ramsars sites, special areas of conservation, ancient woodland and local wildlife sites.
Unfortunately, now broiler or free-range applications within one to two kilometres of these particular features will find it harder to meet the lower thresholds.
In some cases, it will prevent consent from being achievable. Proximity, bird numbers and site sensitivity influence the chance of success. Shropshire Council’s ecology team has put the brakes on for a few months but in early March an extension to a free-range unit was approved with mitigation including tree planting. Hopefully most sites will still secure consent with some mitigation.
There are only a handful of counties in the UK advocating the new approach, including Powys and Shropshire. There is strong industry opposition to the substantial alteration in ammonia threshold which equates to lowering the speed limit from 60mph to 15mph without any consultation.
I therefore encourage any farmers considering a poultry venture to pursue it, in case ammonia thresholds are changed across a larger area. Poultry enterprises produce impressive financial returns, compared to conventional enterprises, and are not dependent on subsidy.
Another area where it is a good idea to get cracking is housing.
Council policy in Shropshire from 2012 requires all new open market developments to deliver a contribution towards affordable housing.
A written ministerial statement from 2014 relaxed the requirements so that developments only trigger a contribution if they deliver more than 10 units or 1,000 square metres of development, or more than five units in some smaller named settlements.
There is scope for Shropshire Council and other local authorities to revise its policy so that it supersedes the written ministerial statement. Therefore, we encourage potential applicants to progress plans and secure consents while guidelines are favourable.
Shaun Jones is a rural professional director at Halls.
