NSW council to consider animal activist views on proposed piggery
Animal activists now have the power to stop farming developments, with one rural council currently considering activist objections from across the country over a proposed local piggery.
ANIMAL activists now have the power to stop farming developments in rural Australia despite living hundreds of kilometres away.
Some of Australia’s most prolific animal activist groups have rallied thousands of anti-farming activists nationwide to object to an application for a piggery development in the small NSW town of Murrumburrah, near Harden, and The Weekly Times can reveal their objections will be considered.
Blantyre Farms, an award-winning family run piggery near Young, recently lodged an application with Hilltops Council which, if approved, would accommodate about 25,000 pigs, create 25 full-time jobs and inject more than $7.5 million annually into the local economy.
The application was put on public exhibition by council, meaning any member of the public could lodge an objection.
Activist groups opposing the piggery include the infamous Aussie Farms, which was recently stripped of its charity status by a federal government body, as well as PETA and Animal Liberation.
The groups have compiled a petition of more than 42,000 signatures opposing Blantyre Farms’ application, and also made a template for anti-farming activists to use as the basis for their objection.
Hilltops Council general manager Anthony O’Reilly told The Weekly Times all submissions, including objections by animal activist groups, would be considered.
Submissions closed last week but Mr O’Reilly was unable to confirm how many had been lodged by activists.
“All submissions are assessed by the team and are valid. They are welcome and are given due consideration,” Mr O’Reilly said.
“If a submission has a petition with a number of people against the application for their own reason, be it animal welfare, it will be considered.
“I would have to see the actual submission in relation to animal welfare to comment further.
“There will be an independent person assessing the application as part of the process.”
One objection, sent to The Weekly Times by the objector, who lives more than 360km from the development, says: “Australians are overwhelmingly strongly opposed to intensive animal factory farming” and cites cruelty, environmental and disease impacts as reasons she is opposed.
This is the second time Blantyre Farms has lodged an application for a piggery at Murrumburrah, with its first in 2015.
The application was rejected by council in 2017 and Aussie Farms claimed its “hard fought 19-month campaign” had stopped the development.
It is feared future farming applications, which allow the public to object, could be swayed by activists.
National Farmers’ Federation president Fiona Simson said while she supported a democracy where everyone could have a say, it was crucial councils put the correct weight on objections and were transparent about how they were assessing the objections.
“At the end of the day, the weight should be placed on the quality of the application, quality of the development and the feelings of the local people,” she said.
Ms Simson said the views of the locals were “much more important than people who don’t live anywhere near the development”.
Victorian Farmers Federation president David Jochinke said the council should not be dictated to by people who don’t have “skin in the game”.
“Anyone who is not impacted directly should be considered as a nuisance. Yes they are allowed to have an opinion but it shouldn’t hold any weight,” Mr Jochinke said.
“If the submissions from these activist groups block the development from taking place, this system (public exhibition) will need a major overhaul because it will be out of date”.
Activists have accused Blantyre Farms of animal cruelty, but RSPCA NSW was unable to confirm this.
Blantyre Farms did not wish to comment.
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