This is why we are continuing to fight the legal battle and confirmation of all the public health issues Shropshire Council’s director of health, prof Rod Thomson supported by his chief exec, has chosen to dismiss: 

What emerged from an EU Parliament debate is that current industrial broiler farming is not only of concern for animal health and welfare, but poses also severe risks for public health as it contributes to the antimicrobial resistance emergency. The poor and cramped living conditions often call for mass treatments with antibiotics to prevent or contain disease outbreaks, which threatens public health. Several strains of poultry pathogens capable of causing serious illness in humans are now showing resistance to antibiotics used in poultry production, as is the case for Campylobacter spp. and Salmonella spp.

Follow the link further information:

http://m.thepoultrysite.com/news/40448

We have been busy preparing papers to appeal the judicial review decision. If the court permits us to go ahead, Shropshire Council will, once again, have the option to contest or not, although it still needs the weight of public opinion to make them reconsider.

Local residents still have no idea why Shropshire Council is so determined to spend taxpayers’ money defending their decision to allow a farmer’s controversial masterplan to build a chicken factory farm so close to Bridgnorth and Tasley, knowing the numerous health risks this factory poses.

A Freedom Of Information request has recently revealed Council bosses have already splashed out more than £10,000 of taxpayers’ money on a barrister. They stated they didn’t know the full costs because, “We are unable to provide an estimate for other legal and staffing costs as these are not recorded in a way that identifies the work carried out on this appeal”. 

Yet earlier this year the Council presented a statement of costs to the Court with charges of £200 per hour and £111 per hour for their staff’s time, as well as £201 for return train tickets for each of their staff to travel to Court. It seems the Council knows its costs when they want someone to pay them, but doesn’t know them when the public asks what they’ve spent. Read into this what you will, but these facts make interesting reading.

In August 2018, Peter Nutting, the Leader of Shropshire Council, spoke out on the growing row about an £80,000 grant the Council had made to Oswestry football club in May 2012, saying it was a "cock-up, not a conspiracy”. Councillor Nutting said the episode, which left council taxpayers £70,000 out of pocket, could never happen again after procedures had been tightened, and pointed out he wasn’t leader at the time. However, he was a senior member of the Cabinet at that time. The current Chief Executive of Shropshire Council, Clive Wright, who recently received an annual salary increase of £47,000, was a senior Director at that time and later became Chief Executive in November 2012. Read into this what you will, but these facts make interesting reading too.

Local people are very unhappy that Shropshire Council is spending taxpayer’s money defending a decision which is at odds with what’s best for Bridgnorth, particularly so in light of the fact that the Council is spending 10 times as much on capital spend in the north of the county compared to the south here in Bridgnorth.

As we’ve said before, we may never know Shropshire Council’s true motives for so determinedly supporting this farmer and his proposed chicken factory, but one thing is for certain, the way they are treating this whole matter shows clear and utter contempt for the residents of Bridgnorth and Tasley. 

The whole point of the legal case was to bring Shropshire Council back to the table and force them to listen to the increasing anger and disgust you feel over this unwanted and unhealthy chicken factory. 

Let them know you will not be ignored, this is your chance to make them listen.

Email your protests directly to the Council’s Leader, Peter Nutting, at [email protected] and his Chief Executive, Clive Wright at [email protected].

Alternatively, write to Peter Nutting and Clive Wright at:

Shropshire Council

Shirehall

Abbey Foregate

Shrewsbury 

SY2 6ND

Any donations towards our ongoing legal costs will be gratefully received and put toward stopping this factory farm. 

Related articles:

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2018/09/05/council-opens-legal-proceedings-against-tns/

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/politics/2018/08/10/revealed-north-shropshire-gets-10-times-more-capital-spending-than-south-of-county/

On 15th and 16th August residents of Bridgnorth will have experienced a pronounced odour across much of the Town. We believe that this was a result of manure being spread for use as a fertiliser – but the smell was there a long way away from any open fields.  A local resident stated ‘the smell in my home at Tasley was so strong on Tuesday that it woke me up” he then went on to say “it was still strong on the high street and in Sainsbury’s.  I can’t help that worry it will put tourists off.  No one will want to eat or drink with that smell in the air “.

 Some residents find the smell of manure unpleasant, but unfortunately that’s not all there is to it. Inevitably, if you can smell the manure it also means that Ammonia has also been released into the air and carried along by the wind. The Government’s latest draft Clean Air strategy recognises that Ammonia can be a significant pollutant, and that it can combine with other forms of atmospheric pollution to contribute to produce harmful particles which cause health problems. The Government proposes to cut ammonia emissions by 8% from the 2005 level by 2020 and 16% by 2030. Livestock housing and manure application are major sources of ammonia emissions.

 This matters to us because Shropshire Council has granted permission for an intensive Chicken farm to be built less than half a mile away from homes to the North West of the Town, despite many objections from local residents. If built, the farm will be discharging fumes into the air throughout the year, and much of the [2,400] tonnes a year of manure it will produce will be spread on local fields as a fertiliser.

 We feel so strongly about this that we’ve gone to the High Court in London to challenge this decision. Controversially, the judge ruled that the Council had taken the decision within the rules but we dispute this and have asked for permission to appeal.

 Should Shropshire continue to spend taxpayer’s money defending a decision which is at odds with the Government’s latest thinking on air pollution, even though it’s cutting its budgets for vital services? What about tightening up the rules about building intensive farms near built-up areas? And if the farm goes ahead, how will Shropshire reassure local residents that it really isn’t risking their and their childrens’ health?

Let the Council’s Leader, Peter Nutting, and Chief Executive, Clive Wright know your views. You can email them at [email protected] and [email protected] or write to them at Shropshire Council, Shirehall, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, SY2 6ND.

 Any donations towards our ongoing legal costs will be gratefully received.

We have just lodged a permission to appeal at the Courts. 

The Court Of Appeal is now the final arbiter. They will either throw our request out, or grant us permission to go to full appeal. If they permit us to go ahead, Shropshire Council will, once again, have the option to contest or not, although it needs the weight of public opinion to make them reconsider.

We have spoken with the people of Bridgnorth and Tasley and they are deeply unhappy at the way Shropshire Council is blighting their’s and their children’s lives with this chicken factory and consistently ignoring their very real fears. They hadn’t realised the Council has been spending their money forcing us to fight a legal case whilst cutting back vital local services, such as the recent £1.6 million cuts to our public health budget. 

They rightly feel that nobody in the Council is listening to them. 

They feel everything is centred on Shrewsbury, and the Council simply doesn’t care at all about any of its other communities. They see that the only money coming into Bridgnorth appears to be for things the majority of residents don’t want. 

Reports from people living in areas close to similar chicken factories complain of a sickening stench and foul odour that occurs at a frequency and level seriously disrupting their lives for a good two weeks during each harvesting and clean out cycle. They are forced to keep out of their gardens and stay indoors with windows and doors shut for days on end to try to keep out the stench 

They have repeatedly logged complaints to their Councils and the Environment Agency, and this force of public opinion has caused plans for at least one chicken factory to be withdrawn, and at least one another site to reduce its number of sheds by 25%, costing the owner over £100,000 so far in lost revenue, and reducing some of the stench.

To give you some idea, there are 7.5 planned cycles per year for this proposed chicken factory. This means people’s lives here in Bridgnorth and Tasley will be severely disrupted by a foul and obnoxious stench for well over 3 months out of every year. 

Apart from all the toxic dust and foul odours, thousands of gallons of water will be used to wash out the sheds. The runoff will contain detergents, chicken remains, disinfectants, nitrates and residues of medicated feed — all cannot simply be flushed down the drain; it must be disposed in an environmentally correct manner, for which no consideration appears to have been given. 

Bridgnorth lies across a valley with a river running through it. Pollutants, of the kind that will be produced by this proposed factory are heavier than air. Such pollutants will be trapped, accumulate, and become an increasing health risk. After a while, all these nitrates and other pollutants will enter the water table and cause pollution. This will create a problem for all those living downstream, and playing or fishing in the waters, for generations to come.  Conventional water treatment does not remove excess nitrate and requires more expensive special treatment. Again, for which no consideration appears to have been given.

A major concern was raised by Public Health England in 2016 about the potential health risks from emissions from a similar chicken factory in Somerset, where a nearby resident has recently been diagnosed with lung cancer and their consultant recognised emissions from the chicken factory as being a significant contributory factor. 

We’ve been noticing for some weeks now that the farmer has begun building the chicken factory. Clearly he thinks this factory is going ahead and nothing can stop it, otherwise he would not have started work on it. Which leads us to conclude that, as far as he’s concerned, all the protests are meaningless. 

It is common knowledge that many people in the Council feel uncomfortable with the way things are being handled, and this is one of them.

It’s curious that so much of Shropshire’s money, our money, is funnelled into Shrewsbury, which is the constituency of the current Leader of the Council, Peter Nutting. Coincidentally, this was also the case with the former disgraced Leader’s Oswestry constituency, and whose wife is now a senior member in Mr Nutting’s cabinet. Furthermore, Mr Nutting has been elected Mayor of Shrewsbury;  maybe on one of those “buy one get one free” offers. Read what you will into this…

If the next Council Leader were to come from Bridgnorth, then this chicken factory problem would magically go away. Until then, we’ll have to put with what’s coming in the pipeline.

The Council’s planning committee, chaired by Cllr David Evans, whose business sells day-old chicks for “fast and reliable meat production”, passed this chicken factory knowing it’s environmental and health problems. Nevertheless, they rubber-stamped it, dismissing all the well known objections of the residents of Bridgnorth and Tasley. Not only that, Cllr Madge Shineton was vociferously in favour of it, whilst the general attitude of the rest, bar one, was “who do you think you are to question us”.

When objections were placed in front of the Council’s Chief Executive, Clive Wright, who’s recently received a £47,000 annual pay increase, he knowingly delegated them to his Director of Public Health, Prof Rod Thomson, who took his time before condescendingly dismissing them. 

It would appear the Council is playing for time whilst construction goes ahead in an attempt to present the residents of Bridgnorth and Tasley with a fait accompli. 

We may never know Shropshire Council’s true motives for so determinedly supporting this farmer and his proposed chicken factory, and turning our beautiful countryside into an open sewer. But one thing is for certain, the way they are treating this whole matter shows clear and utter contempt for the residents of Bridgnorth and Tasley. 

We have yet to find anyone who supports the Council or the farmer, excepting of course themselves and the odd few making mischief.

The whole point of the legal case was to bring Shropshire Council back to the table and force them to listen to the increasing anger and disgust you feel over this unwanted and unhealthy chicken factory. 

Let them know you will not be ignored, this is your chance to make them listen.

Email your protests directly to the Council’s Leader, Peter Nutting, at [email protected] and his Chief Executive, Clive Wright at [email protected].

Alternatively, write to Peter Nutting and Clive Wright at:

Shropshire Council, Shirehall, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, SY2 6ND.

Lastly, any donations towards our ongoing legal costs will be gratefully received and much appreciated. 

Shropshire Council decided a chicken factory with over 1.5 million birds producing over 2,300 tonnes of manure every year, is exactly what the residents of Bridgnorth and Tasley need on their doorstep. The Council decided we needed this factory so much, they spent tens of thousands of pounds, of our money, forcing us to fight a legal case to stop it, when what they should have done was spend it on vital local services. 

We wrote to Clive Wright, Shropshire Council’s Chief Executive, telling him about our very real fears over the health and wellbeing of ourselves and our children if this factory is built. He simply delegated it to his Director of Public Health, Prof Rod Thomson, who’s just taken 3 weeks to tell us he has “nothing further to add”. 

When the Council’s planning committee, chaired by a chicken farmer, granted this chicken factory to Matthew Bower, another farmer, they knew there was an environmental problem that would adversely affect people’s health. They knew they had a responsibility to consider this health hazard under their duty of care to all the communities they serve, not just their own constituency. Yet they steadfastly refused to do so on the grounds that health and wellbeing was outside their planning remit. However, after much discussion, they placed a planning condition to force the colour of the factory’s roofs to be a corporately correct shade of green. 

Both Bridgnorth Town Council and Tasley Parish Council voiced deep concerns over this factory and unanimously objected against it along with hundreds of residents, but all these concerns and objections were simply swept aside by Shropshire Council. 

Shropshire Council’s planners have become complacent; they have allowed 70 chicken factories throughout Shropshire with another half dozen in the pipeline. It’s apparently easier for them to grant yet another chicken factory than implement their housing development plans, especially when they don’t have a clear integrated farming policy. 

Does Shropshire Council actually know what it’s doing?  Because if it does, then Mr Wright and Peter Nutting, the elected Leader of the Council, are directly responsible for the position we find ourselves in with this chicken factory. On the other hand, if the Council doesn’t know what it’s doing, then by definition it’s out of control, which can only be as a direct result of the way Mr Wright and Mr Nutting run the Council. Either way, the buck stops with them.

All this demonstrates just how determined the Council is to help one man build his chicken factory whilst unashamedly suppressing all opposition to it. It would be refreshingly democratic if Shropshire Council helped each one of us as much as they are helping Mr Bower. He’s certainly got value for money out of his Council Tax.

Whilst we fully support Mr Bower’s right to provide for himself and his family, we vehemently disagree that building yet another inhumane chicken factory on our doorstep, at our expense, churning out medicated junk food for pure profit, is the best, or indeed, only way to go about it. The land would be far better used for new housing, or commercial use, or free range farming, or a mix. If that were ever the case, we would, with uncompromising community spirit, fully support the Council and Mr Bower to help make it so. 

Shropshire Council’s behaviour is symptomatic of a state-aided organisation that has lost sight of the importance of moral values in its decision making process so ends up failing in its duty of care to the majority it serves. 

The way this whole matter is being treated by Shropshire Council is self-serving and shows their lack of empathy and total disregard toward the communities of Bridgnorth and Tasley. 

We are referring this matter to the National Audit Office, and the very least Shropshire Council can do is put a hold on this chicken factory until their conduct has been scrutinised by this independent body.

The only thing that can make a difference now is the force of public opinion, and that means you — do you support this chicken factory, Yes or No, Let us Know.

As far as the legal battle goes, the latest judgment may have gone against us, but contrary to common belief, the battle is far from over as we are now considering our options to appeal the judgment. 

We know that you have been with us throughout this whole journey, and we thank you for all your support; long may it continue as we continue to fight to redress this injustice.

We knew from the outset that we had a mountain to climb and that we had to prepare for every eventuality.

We wrote to Michael Gove (and James Brokenshire), after noting the political tide at a national level is turning inexorably against this type of factory farming and it’s barbaric approach to animal welfare. It’s simply not sustainable on environmental and economic fronts.

The more we fight this blight, the less this factory farm becomes viable as a business, till in the end even the banks and backers will look elsewhere for their profits.

We have long term actions planned in case this factory farm is built.  We will keep pushing for air quality monitoring.  We will log and report all violations of the planning permission and environmental permit, including dust, stench, noise, and traffic. We will join forces with animal welfare organisations to fight for the welfare of the chickens imprisoned inside.  We will become a centre of competence to provide guidance on how to complain to Shropshire Council and the Environment Agency, and follow through on those complaints.  Throughout Shropshire there are many others fighting similar travesties and we will join forces with them to continue this fight.  

Furthermore, Shropshire Council are supposed to look after the interests of the people of Bridgnorth and Tasley, and enhance their quality of life, not blight it as they have done so in this case. We voted them in and we can vote them out. We are seriously considering garnering support on this single issue in the 20/21 local elections to vote in people who will be effective in looking after our interests. 

Further updates will be posted as they unfold on our Facebook and CrowdJustice pages. 

Our fate now rests on the deliberations of one man, Rhodri Price Lewis QC, sitting as deputy judge of the High Court. It may take days or even months before he hands the judgment down. 

It will either be in favour of Shropshire Council and the farmer, or it will be in favour of us, the residents of Bridgnorth. Whichever way it falls, our fight against these intensive factory farms will continue. 

Thank you for helping in getting us this far and for your continued support.

Following Shropshire Council’s decision in August 2017 to grant planning permission for a 210,000 bird intensive chicken farm just a few hundred metres away from residential estates in Tasley, on the outskirts of Bridgnorth, a Judicial Review of that decision was launched in the High Court.

In January 2018, a High Court judge ruled that we could take our case to full hearing on the grounds that the impacts of the storage and spreading of chicken manure, which would be generated by the farm, were not taken into account in assessing the planning application. We believe that the totality of the environmental impacts of the proposed factory farm could be detrimental to residents’ health and adversely affect the quality of daily life in the area.

At that point, Shropshire Council could have chosen not to contest the Judicial Review saving everybody’s time, effort, and money. This would have enabled the application to be reconsidered taking into account all relevant factors, which in turn, would have given a better-informed public the chance to be properly heard this time, not just dismissed outright as was the case last time. It would also give opportunities to rigorously scrutinise the planning committee and hold them accountable for their decisions. If the farmer wished, he could revise the scheme to take into account public concerns.

Instead, Shropshire Council decided to hire yet another expensive barrister to justify the approach they took in taking the decision on this planning application. Potentially, Shropshire Council’s already overstretched budget would have to bear the cost and there would be less money available for vital local services.

Whatever the outcome of the court hearing on 7th June, we will be demanding that Shropshire Council tell us categorically what they’ve spent our money on in fighting this Judicial Review, why they did so, and who, all along the line, made the decisions to do so.

Following Shropshire Council’s decision in August 2017 to grant planning permission for a 210,000 bird intensive chicken farm just a few hundred metres away from residential estates in Tasley, on the outskirts of Bridgnorth, a Judicial Review of that decision was launched in the High Court.

It’s just under a week until our case is heard at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on 7 June. If this poultry factory farm is built, the dangers to Bridgnorth residents of emissions from 210,000 chickens will be inescapable. The prevailing winds will blow fumes and particulate matter across our town. It will also produce over 2,300 tonnes of toxic chicken manure annually, and the use of this as a fertiliser on farmland in the vicinity, will add to the problems caused by emissions from the farm itself.

We are very concerned about Shropshire Council failing in their duty of care to the residents of Bridgnorth, and in the light of the new clean air strategy, we have written to Michael Gove MP, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, raising important questions about why Shropshire Council is permitting poultry factory farms so close to residential areas.

As part of the planning decision, when this poultry factory farm was approved, Shropshire Council could have also required air quality monitoring. However, they chose not to. In fact, they were more concerned with the colour of the facility’s roof than with the health of the public. Back in September 2017 when we questioned why the factory farm was approved without installing equipment to check air quality, the Council stated, "The matter was given full consideration. The dust impact would be negligible.”

We do not believe this will be the case. The lives of people living near a similar factory farm in Somerset have become unbearable due to the dust and stench coming from unfiltered ventilation, and their complaints to their Council and the Environment Agency have made little difference.

Shropshire Wildlife Trust is worried that the regulations governing factory farms aren’t good enough and said "Shropshire Council is saying it is stuck between two responsibilities as it is the planning authority and has to follow the guidelines that don't quite add up.” The Trust is concerned “that there's obviously an issue here in Shropshire which needs to be looked at".

If this facility is built, the people of Bridgnorth will come to face the same reality that residents up and down the country now face. They will discover that they too have fallen between legislative cracks, and that their Council and the Environment Agency are ineffectual in adequately enforcing whatever regulations do exist.

Our legal claim seeks to establish that a proper approach to planning policy and the Environmental Impact Assessment rules require the Council to take these impacts into account before making any decision to permit a new factory farm (or allow expansion of an existing one) and would set an important legal precedent that could ensure that local authorities are forced to reckon with the true impacts of factory farms - and disclose them publicly - before making a decision on whether to allow them.

A very big thank you to Campaign to Protect Rural England Shropshire who are donating £1000 to our cause.  

CPRE Shropshire is extremely concerned about the increasing number of large poultry unit applications coming up in the county and is supporting our fight to prevent this mega poultry unit from being built on the edge of Bridgnorth.  

Please follow the link and take a look at their website, they do amazing work across Shropshire.

https://www.cpreshropshire.org.uk/poultry-farms

The final hearing is set for the 7 June at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.  We are fighting to stop this very large broiler chicken farm, one with nearly a quarter of a million chickens producing over 2,300 tonnes of manure every year, from being built on the edge of Bridgnorth in Shropshire.  If built, it would be within the incredibly short distance of 600 metres downwind from a nearby housing estate, one with hundreds of homes, many with young families.

This case raises important questions about the proper approach to permitting factory farms.  Here, like many local authorities, Shropshire Council ignored the impacts of spreading large quantities of manure that will be generated by the farm on the basis that it is 'normal agricultural practice' to spread manure on fields.  

Of course, this ignores the fact that the facility will generate thousands of tonnes of new manure each year and that this manure can have serious impacts on health and the environment, causing noxious odours and increasing dangerous particulate air pollution as manure dust becomes airborne.  

Our legal claim seeks to establish that a proper approach to planning policy and the Environmental Impact Assessment rules require the Council to take these impacts into account before making any decision to permit a new factory farm (or allow expansion of an existing one) and would set an important legal precedent that could ensure that local authorities are forced to reckon with the true impacts of factory farms - and disclose them publicly - before making a decision on whether to allow them.

Sadly, we cannot challenge the welfare of the chickens because legally we can only challenge the planning process, but if we win in court it could prevent this and other future farms being built.

The judicial review process is a very expensive one for ordinary people to try to fund and we thank you for your contributions, your continued support, and please, please, please, keep on spreading the word to as many people as you possibly can.  

Recently, we had to take Shropshire Council to court as part of our fight to stop a poultry factory farm being built at the edge of our town of Bridgnorth. The judgment recognised that chicken manure represents a clear and present danger to public health, and granted us permission to take the case to a full hearing.

If this factory farm is built, the 2,300 tonnes of toxic chicken manure produced yearly will fill over 380 cement mixer lorries, or put another way, it would cover Bridgnorth town centre knee deep in manure each and every year for generations to come.

Shropshire Council granted planning permission knowing there was an environmental problem that would effect people’s health. They knew it was their responsibility to consider this health hazard under their duty of care to the people they serve, particularly to the people of Tasley and Bridgnorth. Even so, with the notable exception of Cllr William Parr and 2 others, the Councillors steadfastly refused to consider this impact as they deemed it was not part of their remit to do so.

The Council dismissed over 300 formal objections from the public, as well as unanimous objections from Bridgnorth Town Council and Tasley Parish Council. They even dismissed a heartfelt letter from a 6 year old boy, read by Cllr Elliot Lynch, pleading with Shropshire Council not to allow the chicken factory farm to be built near his home.

Instead, the Council in their infinite wisdom, decided that a very large broiler chicken farm, one with nearly a quarter of a million chickens being fed on controversial medicated feed, producing over 2,300 tonnes of contaminated manure every year, within the incredibly short distance of 600 metres downwind from a nearby housing estate, one with hundreds of homes, many with young families, to be a perfectly acceptable risk to health.

Furthermore, Shropshire Council imposed a planning condition on the colour of the factory roofs, but chose not to impose any conditions whatsoever to protect people’s health. This truly incomprehensible act would have been farcical had the situation not been so serious.

Shropshire now has the second highest number of poultry factory farms in the country, nearly 70, all of which are proving to be a widespread health hazard, and there’s at least another 6 in the planning pipeline.

Shropshire Council obviously has no clear planning policies on intensive farming activities. First, they approved this poultry farm at Bridgnorth with its obvious impact on current and future housing, then 2 months later, passed its strategic local development plans to build yet more housing in the area.

Clearly, Shropshire Council’s left hand doesn’t know what its right hand’s doing. Now nobody knows when they buy a house if a poultry farm will spring up next door, not even Shropshire Council.

Ideally, we’d like all parties, which includes all Councils, the farmer, residents, and businesses, to come together to find a mutably beneficial and sustainable way forward. But unless Shropshire Council sees sense, we are left with no choice but to find every penny we can to finish this fight. Every donation, whatever size, will help us to carry on trying to stop this madness.

Yesterday, the judge ruled we have an arguable case in all the matters we raised.

This is good news and means we can now take our case to a full hearing to decide if the Footbridge Farm planning decision was unlawful or not.

The judge also quashed Shropshire Council’s attempt to make it even more costly for us to proceed to this final stage.

Now, both we and Shropshire Council have serious thinking to do.

Can Shropshire Council really justify spending even more tax-payers money defending a flawed planning decision, one clearly not in the public’s interest?

Shropshire has the second highest number of poultry factory farms in the country.

Is Shropshire Council even aware of just how many they’ve granted planning permission to, given they’ve no clear planning policies on intensive farming activities?

For us, it’s simple, we need all the donations we can get to stop this insanity.

If this Footbridge Farm decision is deemed unlawful, serious doubt should be cast on the planning permissions granted to any, or all, of the other poultry factory farms in Shropshire.

We’ll be at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Tuesday 16 January.  This is so a judge can decide whether the case can go on to a full hearing.  

If permission is granted, we have only 7 days to apply for a full hearing, and we need £20,000 to pay for this.

We are at this stage because a deputy judge refused permission for a full hearing, no reason was given. As a result of this, we’ve had to pay even more to get their decision properly reviewed in court.

The legal process has been an uphill struggle, making it very difficult and costly for ordinary people like us, to challenge poor and biased planning decisions made by big unitary Councils, like Shropshire.

Shropshire now has the second highest number of poultry factory farms in the country, nearly 70, all of which are proving to be a widespread health hazard, and it begs the question as to whether this would still be the case if planning decisions were taken locally.

Without further donations our fight will probably have to stop regardless of whether the judge grants permission for the case to proceed or not.

Shropshire Council has decided to fight the Judicial Review to the bitter end, and together we need to raise a further £20,000 to present our case at court.

A handful of residents were so concerned, they each gave several thousand pounds to kick start a Judicial Review as this is the only way to reverse the planning decision. Their actions and donations, together with £3,200+ already donated by you online, and a further £350 donated by Tasley Village Social Committee through fundraising events, has generously enabled us to get this far.

We are now appealing to each and every one of you to help raise the £20,000 needed to finish the fight; if every person reading this gave at least £5, we would be able to pay for the Judicial Review.

If we can’t raise this amount in time, then our battle to stop this insanity will have to end.

Shropshire Council granted planning permission knowing there is an environmental problem that will effect people’s health. The hidden costs will be borne by the communities of Tasley and Bridgnorth for generations to come.

We need everyone to look into their hearts and give generously to help stop this monstrosity.

So please contribute whatever you can.

Dear Supporters

We’ve served Shropshire Council with papers.  

Disappointingly, but alas predictably, Shropshire Council have chosen to waste yet more tax payers money in defending their fundamentally flawed planning decision.  

They have requested the court to refuse permission for the hearing.  

Our solicitor and barrister are busily working through the Council’s defence.

What happens next, is that the papers will go to a judge who will decide whether the case can to go on to a full hearing.

We are fast heading towards that crunch point, and need as much funding as humanly possible to continue the fight to prevent this travesty from happening to our lovely communities of Bridgnorth and Tasley.

We thank you for your contributions, your continued support, and please, please, please, keep on spreading the word to as many people as you possibly can.  

Thank you once again,

Tasley chicken factory farm action group.

We have issued the papers with the court.  This involved providing documents explaining the background to the case and relevant legal provisions. 

Take a look at the article in the Shropshire Star for more information. 

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/local-hubs/bridgnorth/2017/10/24/appeal-for-legal-action-against-chicken-farm-near-bridgnorth-raises-over-2k/

Dear Supporters,

Your incredible support and generous pledges have succeeded in raising 100% of our initial target of £1500 in just eight days. This has enabled us to submit a pre action protocol to Shropshire Council.  

We have now received a response from the Council, and are crowdfunding a £5000 stretch target.  

As the next stage in the Judicial Review process, this money will be used to engage counsel to advise, and draft a statement of facts and grounds.The information will be sent to a judge who will decide whether the case can be heard in court or not.

This is a key stage in the process, and we will keep you posted on all major updates.

Keep pledging, keep sharing!

Well done everyone,

Tasley chicken farm action group