Forest councillors have raised concerns about the impact of decisions taken 75 miles away on rivers in the district

Concerns were raised at the last full meeting of the Forest Council that Shropshire Council continues to approve intensive poultry units close to rivers within the catchment of the Severn.

Forest councillors agreed to write to Cllr Lezley Picton, the leader of the Conservative-controlled authority that has its headquarters in Shrewsbury.

In a motion, Cllr Andrew McDuirmid (Green Lydney East) states that according to teh most recent data, more than 50 million chickens are already being farmed at any one time in the Wye and Severn catchment areas upstream of the Forest of Dean.

Chicken manure contains high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen for use as fertiliser but when these nutrients reach waterways they can result in excessive growth of algae, starving the river of oxygen and killing fish.

He said: “As the Forest of Dean is situated downstream between both rivers and next to their outlets into the Severn estuary, it is inevitable that we are adversely affected by any degradation of our river environs upstream,” his motion read.

A majority of district councillors at the meeting backed the motion which will see a letter go to Cllr Pciton expressing “heartfelt” concern and calling on Shropshire to fully consider these downstream impacts when determining such applications.

Cllr Sid Phelps (Green, Lydbrook), who seconded the motion, said the issue is a “not a simple nut to crack”.

He told the council of his frustration over the lack of progress achieved by the Wye catchment nutrient management board, a committee made up of councillors from Powys, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire and the Forest of Dean.

“We’ve not got very far. In fact, the board’s been going for 10 years. It’s got very little progress.

“It really is not a simple nut to crack and more dialogue with more local authorities I don’t think would help.

“It’s not the chicken farms themselves causing the pollution, apart from maybe fugitive emissions that they’re not controlled. Where the problem lies is when it goes off site, it’s either spread directly onto farms.

“And I’m not blaming farmers here, but they’re perfectly legal in doing what they’re doing as long as it doesn’t exceed the crop requirements.

“It’s called diffuse pollution because when the rain falls on it, excessive nutrients in the soil do invariably get washed off, and it’s washed off over a wide area and it’s very difficult to police as a regulator.

“It’s very difficult for farmers to absolutely know, hand on heart, that all the nutrients are going into their crop. This is a really complicated issue”

Cllr McDermid said the river pollution in the Wye was caused due by runoff from fields where there is surplus phosphate nitrate.

“These rivers are in a mess,” he said. “It’s nearly an open sewer because of agricultural runoff mainly.

Shropshire Council did not respond to a request for comment.