Despite strong local opposition, Powys County Council has approved plans for a slurry lagoon in a field in the north of the county.

At the planning committee meeting on Thursday, January 15, councillors considered an application from D & S Gethin to create a slurry lagoon and associated works on land near Broadway Hall, Snead, just outside Churchstoke. The proposal is “part-retrospective” after an “ancient hedgerow” was removed to provide access to the site.

The 40 × 100 metres lagoon would have a 2 metre high, 4.5 metres wide earth bank, filled with slurry from the family’s Forden farm, around seven miles away.

Senior Planning Officer Rhian Griffiths recommended councillors approve the scheme.

More than 100 objections have been lodged, including one from Churchstoke Community Council, and several residents spoke against the proposal at the meeting.

Objector Paul Russell said there was a “serious omission” in the report as an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) had not been mentioned. He added: “We maintain that this development should require an EIA.”

Joanna Jones criticised the process, saying she had “assumed” objections would be read by councillors. “I’m very distressed that legitimate objections and questions raised by our community are being dismissed. Nowhere in the process does it say that only the case officer reads the objections. It seems utterly undemocratic to me.”

Cllr Jeremy Brignell-Thorp, representing Forden and Montgomery, expressed concerns over traffic.

“The lagoon will require hundreds of journeys of slurry, causing significant disturbance to all settlements it goes through, yet there has been no assessment relating to this traffic that’s necessary to fill the lagoon.

“We have had no notification of whether this traffic will go through Chirbury or through Montgomery.

“It is clear that an application such as this needs more information and conditions imposed on what route or times are acceptable for those journeys.”

He also questioned why the lagoon was located so far from the farm, saying it would not be “environmentally friendly.”

Planning agent Richard Corbett explained the lagoon is required to meet Welsh Government rules on Nitrate Vulnerable Zones. “They need to have six month’s slurry storage capacity, and all fields have a limit of how much nitrogen can be spread, and when it can be spread. Being able to store and use it at the right time is the efficiency the farm business is aiming to achieve.”

Mr Corbett added that slurry journeys would be spread throughout the year and said: “There will be no traffic through Montgomery, it makes no logical sense to travel that way. If any of the councillors or planning officers wish to add a condition, we are more than happy to add a route plan on this application.”

Cllr Jonathan Wilkinson said restrictions on spreading windows mean farms “have little option but to seek additional storage.”

Cllr Elwyn Vaughan added that a routing plan condition would be useful, noting the applicant is willing to comply.

The committee voted to approve the application, with 10 councillors in favour and one abstention.