By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter
Plans for 12 chicken farms in Powys are still waiting to be decided, nearly a year on from when the Welsh Government said the applications had to be paused.
It emerged last year that between January and March all planning proposals for chicken farms in the county were paused as “holding directions” from the Welsh Government were placed on them.
This is so that the Welsh Government Minister for Climate Change, Julie James MS, could think about taking charge of the decision-making process after being asked to “call-in” the applications.
Some of the applications had been first lodged with Powys County Council several years ago – and one had actually been approved by the council’s Planning Committee in February 2023.
During the last decade – Powys has become known as the chicken farm capital of the UK.
Since 2015 over 150 applications for chicken farms, both meat producing and egg laying poultry units, have been given the thumbs up by planners.
This is despite considerable local opposition at times and calls for a moratorium on applications which would have allowed the cumulative impact of chicken farms and the potential pollution problems to be thoroughly investigated.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “The Welsh Ministers are currently considering requests to call in all poultry-related planning applications in Powys.
“As is usual in such cases, holding directions have been issued to prevent the granting of planning permission.
“The directions do not prevent the local planning authority undertaking consultations or prevent it refusing the applications.
“The Welsh Ministers are concerned about all sources of pollution on the health of our rivers including the impact from chicken farms but cannot comment further on the effects of individual planning applications; to do so may prejudice any future planning decision they may make in relation to the developments and may affect legal proceedings.”
The applications on pause: