Thread by @FishLegal_

“This is scandalous” @NatResWales sneak out a report which confirms both the link between intensive poultry units and damage to #RiverWye SAC species and the gap in the regulatory regime to address it. A thread explaining all... 🧵⬇️

Over 2 years ago Fish Legal notified @NatResWales that environmental damage was being caused to the River Wye by Intensive Poultry Units in Wales. @NatResWales denied it. No evidence they said, looking at data from 2009 – 2015...

We went to court separately to challenge a planning application for increased poultry production in the Wye catchment. @NatResWales didn’t object to the application...

We argued in court that the planning authority hadn’t considered the pollution risk to the Wye from digestate spreading when they decided to grant permission to expand poultry production near Builth Wells. We said that was unlawful.

But the Court of Appeal said that Powys County Council were entitled to rely on the existence of a regulator regime to control the pollution from spreading, of which @NatResWales was itself the regulator. What regime, we said?

Turns out, @NatResWales know full well that they are not regulating spreading of manure, or digestate, in the Wye catchment. Other than ‘cross compliance’ they say in this new report that it is outside of regulatory control...

And they also know full well that diffuse agricultural pollution from intensive poultry units is a problem for the river. It’s there in black and white in their approved SAC Core Management Plan for the Afon Gwy / River Wye, which was released on the QT.

Good luck finding the report on Natural Resources Wales’ website. It’s well hidden: naturalresources.wales/guidance-and-a… If you want to read the full report without playing hunt the thimble, we’ve put it on our website: fishlegal.net/2022/11/28/nat…

Our legal actions are funded by anglers. It costs money to go to court. We don’t want to spend one more £ of members’ money forcing NRW to do its job. @WelshGovernment need to step in now.

@Feargal_Sharkey @MattHayesfish @TheJimMurray @AnglingTrust @MillardWill @Matthew_Wright

Anglers aren’t the only ones that care about the Wye. Anyone else feel like @NatResWales has been gaslighting us?

@AfonyddCymru
@WUFoundation
@CPRW_UK
@WildFishCons
@RiverActionUK
@SaveTheWye
@rwtwales

Thanks for sticking with us on this thread. Don’t want to read the whole report? We've got the the highlights for you...