The green light has been given to Alison Caffyn, a board member of the advocacy organization River Action, to file a lawsuit against Shropshire Council for allowing a large-scale chicken farm on property that empties into the river.
Campaigners believe this has already resulted in serious water pollution in the nearby River Wye and they fear it will lead to an excessive amount of chicken excrement being scattered on nearby fields.
The farm would be located 400 meters from an existing chicken farm in Felton Butler, close to Shrewsbury, and could accommodate 230,000 chickens at a time.
According to planning records, it would provide “economic and social benefits” to the area, and Shropshire Council approved it in May.
According to River Action, giving the River Severn permission for too many megafarms would be a “death sentence” for the waterway.
Read more: Farmers advised to ‘do better’ on river pollution
“Like an appalling car crash in slow motion, exactly the same set of tragic events” are happening around the River Severn as they have in the River Wye drainage basin, according to Charles Watson, chairman and founder of River Action.
