Increasing conflict between lifestylers and farmers

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Tuesday 8 June 2004

Heard about the missing cows? It is one of the tales of tension in districts around Auckland as urban lifestylers set up house beside real farms.

By The Landlord

A farmer left his herd in a paddock one night, they say.

In the morning they were gone. The lifestyler next door had moved them to another paddock because he was having a barbecue that night and the smell of cows ruined the ambience.

Lifestyle block owners are complaining of noise, smells and activity of animals and machinery. So much so that the Franklin District Council is striving to keep lifestylers and commercial farmers apart.

The problem, says Mayor Heather Maloney, is that "people on lifestyle blocks don't understand noise in the country. They cannot understand why someone should need to start a tractor at 5.30 in the morning".

Franklin farmers leader Wendy Clark said: "There was a woman who rang a farmer about being woken up early. She had a responsible position in the city, she said. 'Couldn't you milk your cows a bit later?"'

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