The High Court has ruled that chicken manure must be classified as "waste" in a boost for River Action’s campaign against so-called "industrial-scale poultry production" in the River Wye.
The landmark judgment comes after the NFU sought to challenge policies in Herefordshire County Council’s Minerals and Waste Local Plan (MVLP).
This requires new poultry units to have a detailed plan for disposing of chicken manure on the basis that manure is a waste in law as part of the Waste Framework Directive, and therefore covered by the MWLP.
The NFU disagreed, triggering a judicial review challenge arguing that poultry manure is an agricultural "by-product" and should not be classified as "waste".
In a new ruling passed down on Monday (10 March), a High Court judge agreed with River Action that chicken manure is classified as "waste" in law.
It will force those proposing new intensive poultry farms in Herefordshire to put in place arrangements for dealing with the volumes of manure that is produced.
Before the court, the NFU did not dispute that poultry manure was the main source of nutrient pollution in the River Wye.
But the union still argued that none of the controls on waste handling should apply and that the council could not deal with it through a policy in its MVLP.
In its intervention, River Action said algal blooms in the river have arisen because of livestock manure causing excessive phosphates to build up in the soil, which then runs off and leaches into waterways.
The charity argued that manure should be classified as "waste" and that controls need to be in place to ensure that farms dispose of it in a lawful way.
The Hon Mrs Justice Lieven agreed that it cannot be assumed that manure would be used in an environmentally safe way.
She then agreed with River Action that manure is "waste" in law up to the point it is sold or transferred to a third party.
The ruling means that poultry producers will have to provide a detailed plan at the planning application stage to ensure manure can be disposed of safely, including transparency on the manure’s destination and application. They cannot rely on wastewater rules monitoring.
River Action chair Charles Watson called the High Court's ruling "historic", adding that it marked "a major victory both for the River Wye and rivers generally across the nation".
"It exposes yet another attempt by the NFU to push back on important initiatives intended to end the blight of agricultural pollution in our rivers," he said.
"We believe the ruling clarifies once and for all that the intensive factory production of livestock is clearly an industrial manufacturing process, whereby the often-toxic waste that it produces must be treated as such."
Leigh Day environment team solicitor, Carol Day said the judgment vindicated the council's approach and was a victory for the River Wye and the wider environment.
She said: "This means that people proposing new intensive poultry units in Herefordshire will need to put in place proper arrangements for dealing the huge volumes of manure that is produced.
"The judgment should also now mean that proper environmental controls are put in place across the country to oversee the production and handling of manure from animals on farms.”
