Mushroom firm refused expansion application

Press, 9 June 1977, Page 5

Mushroom firm refused expansion application

An export award-win-ning Prebbleton firm has been refused permission to expand its mushroom farm. after objections from local residents. Meadows Mushrooms Properties, Ltd, had applied to the Paparua County Council to extend its Springs Road plant in size bv about 50 per cent. Thirty-two objections to the application were made, most of them by Prebbleton householders. The application was rejected by the full council after a recommendation by its town planning hearing committee which heard the application last week. Submissions by local residents claimed that since the plant had been established seven years before, the health and safetv of the community had been in jeopardy and there had been a decline in the quality of their lifestyles. . .. An extension of the plant would aggravate the problems of smell, vermin, flies, noise, the use of highly toxic chemicals, and the risk of water contamination, they said. The company had wanted to add two gassing bays, a mushroom shed and a compost shed to its existing buildings on the 4ha property.

In declining the application, the council said that it believed many of the residents’ objections justified. It had not been

convinced that attaching suitable conditions to a consent would bring significant reduction in existing difficulties. “The present site is not considered suitable for certain aspects of the company’s activities, in particular the composting and fumigating processes. It is felt that if the farm is to be further expanded these processes will, need to be removed to a site more remote from the urban area.”

Accordingly, the application was declined on the grounds that it would be contrary to the public interest and would have town planning significance beyond the immediate vicinity of the .and.

The council granted an application by the Christchurch City Council to have land adjacent to Christchurch Airport designated for “airport purposes.”

The hearing committee was told last week that the land was vital to future expansion of the airport. Evidence given on behalf of the applicant described how the airport authority had recently acquired other land for this purpose, and wanted the land under review “protected.”

Proposed expansion included alterations and extensions to roads in and

around the airport, and lengthening of the northeast runway. Although this could handle large aircraft, it was not the length required by Civil Aviation Division regulations for fully laden planes to take off. There were two objections to the application; both by owners of the land.

A third application was also approved by the council.

General Foods Poultry, Ltd, will be permitted to establish a plant to transform chicken feathers and offal into protein meal for poultry and stock. The plant will be constructed adjacent to the company’s existing poultry-processing factory in Carmen Road. There were no objections and the application was approved subject to 11 conditions. These included requirements that air, smell, and noise pollution be kept to a minimum; that only offal from the Carmen Road factory be processed; and that the new plant not be operated outside certain hours.

The Paparua County engineer (Mr J. D. Annan), assured councillors at Tuesday’s meeting that ’hese conditions would be sufficient and would enable the council to take action if they were not met.