Only five samples (14.7 per cent) met permitted levels. The Wye problems were on top of high levels of pollution in one of its tributaries, the river Lugg. Phosphate levels in the river catchment area were found to be so high that the council put a moratorium on new development in most of North Herefordshire while it tried to find a solution. The phosphate was said to come from fertilisers applied to agricultural land, but that was the case across the country and not just by one farm. For the farm in Whitney-on-Wye, which is near a watercourse which feeds into the river Wye, Mr Price asked Herefordshire Council for planning permission to cover an open silage store.