Back in July 2015, BRECON AND RADNOR CPRW started cataloguing all the applications for intensive poultry farms in Powys to show the public just how many there were and how fast the numbers of applications and approvals were increasing every single month.

We knew the chicken manure and ammonia emissions were polluting our rivers and reducing plant biodiversity. But this did not stop Powys Planning, advised by Natural Resources Wales, allowing more and more.

You can see our much-consulted Powys Chicken Map  here.

Later, we joined with our English colleague, Dr Alison Caffyn, to show that the “chicken capital of Europe” spreads over Powys, Herefordshire and Shropshire. There are over 10 million chickens in Powys alone and 20 million in the cross-border catchment of the iconic river Wye.

Powys will not listen and so CPRW has kept on asking the Welsh Government to STOP approval of more intensive chicken farms.

There are still twelve more Powys poultry planning applications waiting for decision by Powys County Council. Since Spring 2023, these have been put under “Holding Directions” by the Welsh Government. This means Powys could not approve yet more intensive chicken farms for the past year but we still do not know whether the Welsh Government will let them go ahead.

Now there are lots of UK organisations joining in and asking for Government action in both England and Wales. The latest petition from the Soil Association asks …….

“UK Governments to implement a ban on new intensive poultry units, support farmers to exit this damaging industry, and take action to reduce chicken consumption to more sustainable levels”

Please watch the film and sign this PETITION to Stop Killing our Rivers – and forward to others who would support this cause.