A retrospective application for consent to run a free-range hen farm near Ettrick has ruffled a few feathers.
The application by Quinten and Bronwynn Pringle to farm up to 2000 hens on a Marsh Rd property within 2km of the township will be considered by the Central Otago District Council's hearings panel next Tuesday.
The couple already have 340 free-range hens and two henhouses on the site and they have sought retrospective consent for the intensive farming, as it is within 2km of an urban area, and also sought consent to sell eggs from the property.
Property owners within 2km of the site - 49 in total - were notified of the application and 11 submissions were received, with nine in support and two against.
Grant and Gaynor Scott were among those who supported the application, saying in their submission it "will create employment and economic development in Ettrick and surrounding areas, and ... be an asset to the Ettrick community".
Stewart and VanjaBain, and Patrick Niederer, oppose the application because of concerns about odour.
"As the major residential part of Ettrick is within 1km of the proposed site of the hen farm, no-one can tell us that you will not be able to smell 2000 hens, " the Bains say in their submission.
The Bains and Mr Niederer asked for a condition, if consent were granted, that chicken litter from the farm would not be spread within 2km of Ettrick.
In their application, the Pringles say they would like to expand the number of hens to 2000 and have six sheds on the site. The character of the area is dominated by productive rural activity, including a dairy farm across the road, and orchards, they say.
"The presence of free-range hens is not out of character for a rural zone and the free-range nature means the hens are roaming over a relatively large area of land."
Wood shavings in the henhouses would absorb odour and droppings. The effects of excrement outside the shed had the same effects as applying manure in the rural area, which was a permitted activity.
Council planning consultant David Whitney recommends the council grant consent, subject to 15 conditions, including the monitoring of wood shavings in the henhouses to avoid offensive odours and restrictions on where the manure from the hen houses can be spread.
