Poultry manure can be classified as ‘waste’ by councils and should be disposed of accordingly, the high court has ruled, in a decision likely to have wide reaching implications for the handling of manure on farms around the country.
Following the adoption of Herefordshire County Council’s (HCC) Minerals and Waste Local Plan (MWLP) in March 2024, the National Farmers Union (NFU) mounted a judicial review challenge arguing that manure produced by farms is an agricultural by-product and should not be classified as ‘waste’ under the Waste Framework Directive (WFD).
River Action, a charity, said in court environmentally damaging algal blooms in the River Wye have arisen as a result of livestock manure leaching into waterways. River Action argued that manure should be classified as ‘waste’ at least until its point of use under the WFD, and that controls need to be in place to ensure that waste producers take responsibility for disposing of waste in a lawful way.
The Hon Mrs Justice Lieven agreed that it cannot be assumed that manure will 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. This means that chicken producers in Herefordshire will have to provide a detailed plan at the planning application stage to ensure chicken manure can be disposed of safely, including full transparency on the manure’s destination and application.
The judge also rejected the NFU’s argument that HCC had to assume that the Farming Rules for Water (FRfW) – which regulate the spreading of manure on fields – were operating effectively to combat water pollution, so that no harm would be caused to the Wye by additional chicken manure – when all parties accepted that that was not the case. She observed that the FRfW are “a regulatory regime which beyond any doubt had failed to protect the environment from harm” and that HCC was justified in adopting a policy that recognised the FRfW were failing to operate effectively.
River Action chair Charles Watson said: “This historic court ruling marks a major victory both for the River Wye and rivers generally across the nation and 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.”
NFU Vice President Rachel Hallos said: “We are extremely disappointed by the High Court’s ruling and are currently reviewing the judgment carefully to examine its potential implications for our members in Herefordshire. The NFU is considering whether to seek permission to appeal today’s ruling.
“It’s important to stress that this case was about whether Herefordshire Council had acted within the scope of its statutory powers when making its Minerals and Waste Local Plan and whether the proper process was followed when consulting on the plan.
“Britain’s farmers recognise their businesses have a major role to play, alongside producing food, in improving water quality. Much progress has already been made through regulation and voluntary measures such as carefully managing how much manure and fertiliser is applied to fields.”
“With our farmers already under immense pressure due to the loss of direct payments and the impacts of the family farm tax, confidence is already at an all-time low. Today’s decision will come as a further blow to farming’s ability to invest and improve on-farm infrastructure and apply for funding through government-backed schemes like the Slurry Infrastructure Grant, all of which aim to improve water quality.”