Petitions raised against urban poultry farms in Poland
Until recently, Polish broiler producers tended to build poultry buildings outside of villages and towns so as not disturb inhabitants with unpleasant smells emitted during boiler production.
However, this tendency has changed and agricultural entrepreneurs are beginning to build poultry buildings in more urban areas and even in the middle of Polish villages upsetting the everyday life of common residents.
In Sladków, central Poland, young entrepreneur Grzegorz Kubiak decided to build a poultry house on his own lot of ground. Having got all the relevant permissions from the local authorities and building surveyors he has met with fierce hostility from his neighbours in the village.
Objections
“Almost all the inhabitants signed this protest against the planned building of a poultry farm in the center of our village” says producer of fresh vegetables Slawomir Drubkowski. “Nobody likes the idea of poisoned water from a poultry farm and the bad smell that would spoil our life here. We want to avoid it”.
Agnieszka Nowicka lives with her ill son Peter next to the area where the poultry farm is going to be built. “I’m afraid for my son’s health because he has got problems with his lungs. I keep him in the country where walks in the fresh air have improved his illness.
“Stinking fumes from a poultry farm would make my son’s walks impossible. I’m against the planned building of poultry farm here” she says.
Prevention
Local residents collected 99 signatures from protesters and passed it on to the local authority. “It seems that our local authority can’t do anything to stop this investment. They say that there is a liberty to set up and run the agricultural activity in Polish country but nobody has taken into account our opinion,” complains Dariusz Klimczak whose house faces the planned poultry farm.
“At the moment, there is no big problem but in the summer all the fumes will be blown towards our farmyard and house. We’ve got a son and if he decides in the future to sell our farm, he won’t get a good price for it or perhaps even be able to sell it. All because of the poultry farm standing on the other side of the road”.
Kubiak, the entrepreneur who plans to build the poultry house has quite different thoughts: “In my firm opinion this construction is in order with all the rules and requirements of Polish law. The people in our village protest for they are afraid of brand new things that suddenly appear. They must get used to them and this process must take time. Besides I can swear that this building will be built in accordance with requirements of ecology and will spoil neither the air nor water in our village” states Kubiak.
