Artist and café owner, Kate Milsom, 57, lived in the Wye Valley, Powys, on the Welsh borders for four years where she experienced the effect of ammonia pollution daily. Her life became so impacted that she was forced to move home twice during this time.

Here she shares her story:

I’ve had to move twice because of factory farming in Powys, and it’s been devastating. In 2017, I was living with my partner in a small, quiet rural village in Llandrindod Wells, when I discovered that the owner of the farm next door, was applying to build a pullet unit for 12,000 chicks. The planned shed was just 150 metres from our home. Our battle to stop the build was stressful, time consuming and ultimately unsuccessful - Powys County Council ignored us and granted planning permission in May 2018. We were devastated. Deflated, I left Llanwrthwl in 2018 and put everything I had into buying ‘Hope Chapel’, a beautiful but dilapidated hall, only to receive another planning letter for 90,000 broilers right next door, this time 100 metres from my home – I cried, feeling utterly shattered and powerless. I didn’t want to live next door to a factory, it was nearer me than the farmer! The noise would wake me at night, so I stopped sleeping – the stress caused panic attacks, I felt like a wasp in a jar – trapped, angry and desperate. I found the odour and the noise particularly disturbing, the smell of ammonia was so invasive. My eyes had started to sting and water – I had days when I couldn’t use the computer because my eyes were so sore, I couldn’t see. I had to keep my doors and windows shut and I became increasingly concerned about my heath and the impact of airborne particles. I started to keep a diary of the smell, and there were only two weeks in a month when it was okay to have visitors.

End It - Ammonia Map