Wiltshire Council: no Environmental Impact Assessment ‘screening’ undertaken for intensive Avon Salmon Farm

WildFish is disappointed that Wiltshire Council did not undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment “Screening” for a new intensive salmon farm on the Hampshire Avon. The council’s reasoning is that the fish farm already existed, was licensed, and simply consisted of a new canopy over the existing ponds.

Justin Neal, Head of Legal at WildFish, said, “The council’s failure to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a significant oversight and there is a clear error of law. The council did not take into account all of the potential environmental impacts. While there was an assessment of the risks to the protected features of the Avon – which we think was also defective – the  lack of an EIA means that we still don’t know the true extent of several potential negative impacts, including what happens to the fish waste if it is spread on fields or what happens if and when the system fails and the river is polluted. There is little in the permission which regulates how the system will work and what environmental protections there are. Importantly, the EIA process also helps ensure that the public has its voice heard too – and so without one, the public’s concerns about this intensive salmon farm have been overlooked”. 

Last year, we welcomed the closure of the trout farm at Downton on the Hampshire Avon chalk stream – but shortly afterwards were dismayed to see that developers Coldwater Salmon had put in an application for a massive intensive salmon farm conversion. Our team submitted a letter of objection complaining about the opacity of the plans for an untested process of water recirculation. 

Nevertheless, despite having alerted the council to the absence of “EIA assessment” and the risks to the river, the council granted planning permission in May. Since then we have seen no evidence of one being undertaken, despite there being a “Habitats Regulations Assessment” which contains huge gaps including those relating to phosphate pollution and the possibility of pollution from fish waste spread on farmland. 

Our team further engaged with the Council by way of a request for sight of the EIA screening opinion after permission was granted on 3 June 2026, but the council’s solicitors subsequently responded that an “EIA Screening” was not required. 

We will be watching to see if the new “Avon Valley Salmon” company will keep within its permits and licences for water abstraction and discharges to the river. If we see any evidence of pollution, we will be looking at taking legal action.

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