Lifestylers raise stink over farms

By ARNOLD PICKMERE

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.

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 has heard the talk at meetings.

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

And the farmer who had his cows moved by his barbecuing neighbour was naturally aggrieved. The neighbour had no idea of the sprays, clovers or other problems there might have been with the other paddock.

Mrs Maloney says some lifestylers also want smoother roadside berms to walk the dog or ride horses. Franklin's 1600km of roads have deep side drains to cope with cloudbursts.

The district plan details the increasing conflict between lifestylers and farmers over, for example, odour from normal farming operations - dairy sheds, silage pits, onions drying and "factory" (intensive) farming operations, not to mention noisy bird-scaring devices.

Urban sprawl is one thing, but the spread of lifestyle blocks is becoming known as "rural sprawl".

The problem, say those trying to keep the peace, is that many people do not know what to do with a 4ha ("10-acre") block. Research suggests many lifestyle blocks are back on the market in less than three years.