Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 1:47 pm on 14 October 2020.

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Photo of Janet Finch-Saunders Janet Finch-Saunders Conservative 1:47, 14 October 2020

Diolch, Llywydd. Good afternoon, Minister. There are 119 intensive poultry units in Wales with 40,000 or more birds. One hundred and sixteen of these are in Powys. Natural Resources Wales's Powys poultry pilot study—an assessment of cumulative atmospheric releases—found that smaller, non-regulated, but covered-under-planning poultry units do have a greater impact on the local ammonia concentrations than the larger regulated intensive units. It is noted that 12,000 free-range laying hens have a greater environmental impact than 80,000 meat birds. That was in 2005, yet, five years later, it is NRW that remain responsible for environmental permitting for the sites and for completing the habitat risk assessments for developments of only 40,000 or more birds. Are you confident, Minister, that NRW are regulating the category correctly or should the 40,000-bird red line in section 6.9 of Schedule 1 to the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 be lowered in respect of the 2015 report?