More than 230 object to chicken farm plan near Newport as opponents meet

Residents have united in opposition to a 180,000-bird chicken farm in Telford as the number of objections climbed past the 230 mark.

The arable and dairy farm operators of Barnes Farm, at Rowton, between Shrewsbury and Newport, are looking to invest £3.5 million on the project to help diversify their business.

Residents held a public meeting at Waters Upton Village Hall to express their concerns.

Officials at Telford and Wrekin Council are considering the application, which faces being called in to the planning committee by Ercall Magna Parish Council if planning officers are minded to approve it.

The plan was first lodged in February 2025 and the applicants have provided an environmental statement.

Rebecca Morris, aged 64, a Shropshire resident, who attended the meeting, said: “Shropshire is already the UK’s second most intensively farmed county, and suffers from the air and river pollution that goes with that.

"I object to this application that will subject chickens to short lives indoors where they will never be able to feel sunlight or grass, and will bring more traffic and pollution to this rural area.”

Other attendees at the meeting on July 2 expressed their concerns about water abstraction and local biodiversity, among other planning considerations.

Campaigners at Communities Against Factory Farm (CAFF) are supporting local residents who are opposing the application.

Maya Pardo, legal coordinator at CAFF said: “Local residents are worried about what this factory farm would mean for their quality of life, the health of local waterways and the birds trapped inside.

"Chicks raised for meat are bred to grow at an unnaturally fast rate, which causes immense suffering throughout their short lives."

Opponents are also concerned about water scarcity, the impact on nearby Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), and animal welfare.

Scores of objections have flooded in from across Shropshire, the West Midlands and beyond.

One objector wrote: "Any kind of factory farming is terrible for the environment.

"Due to the clear signs of the climate crises we are already experiencing, there is no way that the local council should be allowing more polluting industry in our county."

The site has an anaerobic digester which could be used to turn nearly 2,000 tonnes of chicken poo into gas for the National Grid.

Another objector had concerns about traffic generated by that equipment. They said: "There is already an increased volume of HGV's through Rowton since the implementation of the anaerobic digester, any more development on this farm will have further negative impact on our hamlet.

"I am also very concerned about the smell that will be caused by such a large scale chicken farm."

Drainage experts at the council have also asked farm business SV Taylor and Partners to explain how it would stop water finding its way from Barnes Farm, to the River Tern.

Planning agents have told planners that the arable and dairy business is looking to further diversity.

They said that the decision to diversify the business into poultry production has “stemmed from the financial volatility of the dairy and arable sectors within which the business currently operates.

The plan involves the building of four poultry houses with associated feed bins, dirty water tanks, hard standings, water tank, generator, plant room, gate house, car parking and attenuation pond.

It would be used for rearing of broilers from day old chicks “through to finished table weight”

The chicks are placed within the building as day olds and reared within the building for 38 days, following which they are ‘manually caught’ and transported live to the ‘processers’.