Chickens

Chicken sh** – that’s the problem

Here’s a question: what has the River Wye got to do with new homes?

The poor old Wye is in dire trouble a bit like the housebuilding industry, but there’s more. There are 150,000 new homes that are not being built because of nutrient neutrality – a ban imposed by a quango called Natural England. 

Never mind the fact that new homes only contribute a minute amount of nitrates and phosphates into water courses.

The big culprit is agriculture contributing around 80 per cent according to estimates. And the top of the charts are chicken farms which have boomed as people switch from red meat. 

And it’s cheap. You can get a chicken in Tesco for £4.00. Half a dozen eggs (in case you didn’t know, that’s where chickens come from) will set you back about £2.60.

The poor old Wye – once a teeming salmon river – has been downgraded and chicken sh** is the main culprit. 

Last year only 326 salmon were caught, down from almost 8,000 in 1967. There are now 20 million chickens being reared on the banks of the Wye, up from 13 million ten years ago.

And these chickens have natural bodily functions and much of the manure – with 2,500 tonnes of phosphorus –  is spread on the land, where it leaches into the poor old Wye.

Even if we were to shut all the farms tomorrow much of the damage is done – the land is soaked in phosphorus.

So where is Natural England in all of this? Is it crying out for action to shut down these polluting farms? As far as I can see, the number of farms forced to close is zero.

The Environment Secretary, Thérèse Coffey pitched up last May at a roundtable to ‘discuss’ actions –not to take– to help the poor old Wye. 

Emma Johnson of NE said: ‘Natural England will ensure that we, and our partners in the Wye Nutrient Management Board, make full use of the regulatory and voluntary measures at our disposal…to ensure a thriving natural world.’ Fine words. No action.

Meantime the chickens and their droppings come home to roost. The housing crisis continues and the poor old polluted Wye meanders through the countryside getting more polluted by the day.

NE is chaired by Tony Juniper, a hardline campaigner who, over the years, worked with Friends of the Earth and WWF. He also co-authored a book with the then Prince of Wales – now King Charles. Like many public bodies, it has the great and the good on its 12-member board. 

Maybe it’s time NE concentrated on the real environmental issues rather than stopping homes for common people.

Have a good weekend and stay away from the McNuggets.

Tom