Luis Feliu
Neighbours complaining about an illegal poultry farm at Cudgen will have to put up with the stink of its sheds and chickens a little longer than they expected.
Chook farmer Dean Sikiric was last year found in contempt of court after he didn’t comply with a judgment to remove the chickens and sheds from the property at Cudgen Road.
The Land and Environment Court found that the sheds were illegal because no development application was ever lodged with Tweed Shire Council.
Council decided several times to extend the deadline for Mr Sikiric to voluntarily remove the sheds and chickens, the latest being mid February, after his solicitor had advised council late in January that the site had been too wet to bring trucks in to move the chickens.
But Echonetdaily has learnt that on 6 January, Mr Sikiric lodged a notice of intention to appeal with the Supreme Court, thereby delaying any forcible removal of the sheds and chickens.
There was some confusion last month when Tweed mayor Barry Longland stated publicly that the sheds would be forcibly removed if Mr Sikiric didn’t remove the sheds and chickens by the deadline given by council.
But since then, council has confirmed that it is not their role to enforce a contempt of court order, so the sheds and chickens are likely to stay longer than neighbours had been led to believe for the past few months.
A spokesperson for the Land and Environment Court said Mr Sikiric had till 9 March, or three months from the time the court made its decision on 9 December last year, to lodge his appeal.
The court would then take action to enforce the orders.
Angry neighbours had recently written to both council and media wondering why no action had been taken to remove the poultry farm.
‘While the owner languishes in a home away from the stinking chicken farm, everyone that resides and works in the area has to endure it,’ one said.
