Residents cry foul over chicken farm

Totara Park Drive residents have lost the battle but not the war over a neighbouring poultry shed.
Foppe de Vries applied to Masterton District Council to keep poultry for rearing from one day old to 16 weeks old early last year and a public notice outlining the resource consent was published on April 25.
Submissions closed on May 23 and five objections were received calling for a hearing, which was held at the council on November 26 where the commissioner decided in favour of the de Vries resource consent.
Totara Park Drive resident and objector Brian Monaghan said the issue isn't with the neighbours, it's with the council and the rules that were broken to approve the application.
"All of us have had to get consents over the years for buildings and other things and it's a hassle and takes a long time but it has to be done.
"It's not right that someone next door can be running an intensive farm before consent has even been granted and have it only 100m from the next-door property, when the district plan says it has to be 500m."
Mr Monaghan, along with neighbours John Robinson and Rob Meredith, have been fighting against the poultry rearing sheds since April and say many other neighbours aren't even aware of it existing.
"There are 22 properties within a 500m radius of the sheds and all of them should have received a letter from council notifying them about the resource consent application. "We've talked to a number of property owners who have no idea about it and are clueless that the sheds are even devaluing their property," Mr Monaghan said.
The map and information provided to commissioner Christine Foster at the hearing was out-of-date and inaccurate, he said.
"The commissioner based her decision on an aerial photograph that is six years old and on other information given by the council that just didn't add up."
Mr Meredith said the big issue at the time of the hearing was how the fans and irrigating on the farm would affect the resident's roof-water supply.
"The owners said there were no fans being used but when the commissioner went out there they had two operating and they weren't meant to put chook manure on the farm but the council knows that they are."
In the commissioner's December 19 decision she said granting consent for the de Vries would enable them to provide for their economic well-being and would contribute positively to the rural economy.
"The proposal will not compromise the foreseeable needs of future generations and presents no threat to the life-supporting capacity of air, water or soil."
She said providing it was operated as intended by the management plan and subject to some specific conditions, the potential adverse effects could be avoided.
One of those conditions is that soiled sawdust, manure or other material from the poultry enclosures is not to be spread on to land within the site.
The objectors to the de Vries poultry shed have 15 working days to lodge an appeal with the Environment Court against the resource consent application.