Protesters cry foul over big chook farm
Some residents who have lived in Kaipara for decades plan on leaving town if Tegel’s plans for a mega chicken farm go ahead.
About 80 Kaipara locals, with animal advocacy group Direct Animal Action, staged a protest outside the poultry giant’s Newmarket head office at lunchtime yesterday.
Bearing colourful signs and banners, the group loudly chanted its opposition to the proposed farm, which could stock up to 1.3 million chickens in 32 sheds.
Karen Exley has lived in Dargaville for the past 30 years.
“The odour is a big part. I mean all the local houses, the urupa¯ are going to be affected. So when people are visiting the urupa¯ they’re now going to have to smell and sit there and put up with the odour.”
She doesn’t want to have to move because of the mega farm.
“We wouldn’t be able to stay because it goes against everything we believe in,” Exley said.
“I wouldn’t be able to drive past a mega broiler factory every day knowing those chickens were in the sheds.”
Ka¯pehu marae’s spokeswoman, Betty Shine, told the Herald it was a fight she would see through to the end.
“It’s right next to our cemetery and you know obviously [Tegel] didn’t do their research before they decided to take this up, so we’ve got to fight and do the fighting for our children and grandchildren.”
The protest is timed with what would’ve been the start of a resource consent hearing that Tegel put on hold late last month.
The company has until November to come back to the table.