Council to quash salmon farm permission over lack of environmental impact assessment

The council approved plans for the site near Downton in March 2026, paving the way for the re-purposing of a former trout farm for salmon farming.

But campaign group Communities Against Factory Farming (CAFF) later filed a judicial review claim with the High Court after raising concerns over animal welfare on the farm and the potential impacts to the River Avon.

CAFF’s legal team at Leigh Day solicitors has now announced that the council has written to the claimants agreeing to overturn its decision to grant planning permission for the farm’s infrastructure.

CAFF argued that the plans did not adequately consider the welfare of the fish that would be housed, and voiced concerns over the impact of waste from fish faeces on the environment, especially the River Avon Special Area of Conservation.

It alleged that a large amount of chemicals would be needed to operate the facility, which could have ended up in the River Avon, along with waste and sludge produced in the facility.

The group advanced three grounds in their judicial review application, including that the council failed to carry out an EIA, and provided no reasons for this.

It also contended that Wiltshire failed to assess the impacts of sludge stemming from fish faeces, and failed to consider animal welfare, and provided no reasons for this.

According to Leigh Day solicitors, the council has agreed to quash the decision because of its failure to carry out an EIA. The council did not confirm this account when asked for comment, saying the matter is yet to conclude.

The council’s Cabinet Member for Development Management, Adrian Foster, said: “The matter remains subject to ongoing legal proceedings.

“Although we anticipate that we are close to reaching a conclusion, the proposed Consent Order has not yet been finalised by all parties or approved by the Court. It would therefore be inappropriate to comment further at this stage."

Leigh Day partner Ricardo Gama, who represents CAFF, said: “In this claim for judicial review, CAFF argued that planners had failed to take into account the welfare of the salmon, as well as the significant environmental impacts of the scheme.

"This is in spite of very clear recent caselaw that those impacts must be assessed for intensive agricultural schemes such as this."

Maya Pardo, legal coordinator at CAFF, added: "The application was missing key documents, so failed to prove that rivers, air quality and animal welfare could be protected. Something as huge as this industrial mega development should not have been decided by one person.

“It is therefore a huge relief that the council has now acknowledged its error and stopped this intensive fish farm expanding.”

Adam Carey