100 signatures reached
To: Waikato Regional Council
Make All Resource Consents for Factory Farms Open to Public Submission
We want the Waikato Regional Council to make the resource consent applications for all factory farms open to public submission.
This includes the currents resource consent applications from Buchanan Ellis Ltd to build 6 new sheds that will house 42,000 chickens each in Waerenga and from PIC New Zealand Limited to triple the size of their commercial piggery to house 12,000 pigs in Maramarua, as well as any other resource consent applications for factory farms in the region that might be submitted in the future.
Why is this important?
The Waikato Regional Council is currently processing two applications to build industrial factory farms in the region. Buchanan Ellis Ltd have applied to build 6 new sheds that will house 42,000 chickens each in Waerenga and PIC New Zealand Limited have applied to triple the size of their commercial piggery to house 12,000 pigs in Maramarua.
Both of these applications are limited notification, meaning the Council is not allowing the public the right to make submissions on these resource consents.
We believe that factory farms are an issue of importance for the entire Waikato community due to animal welfare, environmental and health concerns, not just an concern for those who happen to live directly beside one.
More than 70 percent of New Zealanders are opposed to factory farming and the overwhelming majority of Waikato residents do not want more factory farms built in our region. We should have the right to express this view to our local council in a healthy democracy.