Concerns about odour, carcass disposal, noise and runoff have once again been raised by Lalla residents as Olson’s Eggs plans to expand.
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On Monday the City of Launceston is set to vote on whether to approve the development of a second free-range chicken shed for egg production at Quills Road.
The new shed would be built 900 metres away from the existing shed which was approved in 2015, and would have space to house 7200 chickens.
“There will be no roosters [and] the chickens will have approximately 3.5 hectares to range about in and will have free access to and from the shed for laying, feeding and watering,” the application said.
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The council recieved 15 representations against the development, many with concerns over an incident in March during which chicken manure from farmer Chris Olson’s Brown Mountain facility was spread at the Quills Road property as fertiliser.
“The resulting strong foul odour could be smelt from Karoola and along Lalla road,” Ian Lake said.
“This strong odour affected many dwellings and owners myself included. The duration of the odour was some weeks.”
The council said that according to the applicants the drier process from the new shed would not result in such odours.
“This is a rural area, supporting working farms and as such smells, noise, dust and flies are to be expected,” the agenda said.
A number also raised concerns that the smell from the chickens would deter tourists visiting the area and that when they complained to the council nothing was done.
However, the council denied the claims saying all complaints were taken seriously.
“Since the construction of the recent shed, council officers have responded to numerous complaints in regard to water pollution, smell of spread manure from Brown Mountain facility and other odour issues,” the agenda item said.
“Over the course of following up various complaints, officers from council, state officers representing the EPA and DPIPWE and Australian Government officers representing the EPBC Act have all visited the area and undertaken investigations and have not found cause to take action against the operator.”
Council officers recommended that aldermen approve the shed, subject to a number of conditions, including the collection of dead birds daily, soil testing and notification of plans to spread manure.
Holly Monery
Holly Monery is a journalist for The Examiner newspaper, based in Launceston, Tasmania. Her main area of focus is local government.
Holly Monery is a journalist for The Examiner newspaper, based in Launceston, Tasmania. Her main area of focus is local government.
