He told the Herald last year that he wanted answers about how a \u201ccommercial slaughterhouse\u201d could be set up so close to his Blackbridge Rd home, in view of his lounge window.<\/p>\n
He said he didn\u2019t pay council rates on his $1.8 million, 4ha property \u201cto look at an abattoir\u201d and watch \u201c300-plus animals killed 6m outside my boundary each year\u201d.<\/p>\n
Speaking this month, Bell didn\u2019t want to comment except to allege the issue had been an environmental breach. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t let blood run down a hillside without a consent.\u201d<\/p>\n
David Taylor, who hired the mobile abattoir to kill his own animals, said his team stopped work at the property next to Bell\u2019s in November.<\/p>\n
He had still been able to supply his butchery but said abatement notices issued by council which stopped work had hit him with \u201cunreasonable\u201d costs.<\/p>\n
It \u201cput a fierce spanner in the works\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
Kevin Bell lodged his complaint because he wanted answers about how a “commercial slaughterhouse” could be set up on his boundary fence. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n
The spat not only interrupted Taylor\u2019s business, but potentially that of the mobile abattoir run by Logan Wait\u2019s company Earth First, which is understood to be a New Zealand first<\/a>.<\/p>\n Wait aimed to use it to usher in an era of micro-processing, where animals could be killed in paddocks rather than being transported to big abattoirs. <\/p>\n Backyard slaughter <\/p>\n Taylor, owner of The Local Farmer Butchery, said he began hiring the mobile unit to kill about three to four animals every fortnight on land next to Bell\u2019s that he leased. <\/p>\n He earlier said it allowed him to use a \u201cfarm-to-table\u201d model that was a hit with customers and \u201ccut the big boys [supermarkets] out\u201d of the supply chain.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re buying local \u2013 they\u2019re buying animals that are farmed just up the road from where they live, which people seem to like,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n He claimed the number of slaughtered animals<\/a> was more likely to be about 100 annually. <\/p>\n He added that he\u2019d \u201cbent over backwards\u201d to minimise disruption, offering to work with Bell and build an embankment to shield the operation from his view.<\/p>\n However, he said his offer was rebuffed, and he received a text saying: \u201cSee you in court.\u201d<\/p>\n Bell told the Herald the operation had been a \u201cdisturbing\u201d intrusion on his 4ha property. <\/p>\n He claimed the sounds of rifle shots and generators, combined with the sight of carcasses 150m from his window, destroyed his \u201dquiet enjoyment” of 25 years.<\/p>\n \u201cMy stock walking up and down my land watching their brethren being killed on the other side of the fence isn\u2019t cheering anybody up either.\u201d<\/p>\n $7000 spanner in the works<\/p>\n The clash came to a head in November when Auckland Council issued abatement notices requiring the operation to cease. <\/p>\n Taylor believed council\u2019s approach was \u201cunreasonable\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThey told us the whole time they\u2019d work with us to iron out the faults. <\/p>\n \u201cThen at the last minute, they just issued abatement notices and told us to stop completely.\u201d<\/p>\n He was told council required a resource consent that would cost a minimum of $7000 to continue the operation.<\/p>\n That meant a truck designed for micro-processing would require consents for every property it visited – driving prices sky high.<\/p>\n Auckland Council compliance manager Adrian Wilson said his team issued abatement notices to the property owner \u201crequiring them to cease mobile abattoir operations and associated discharge of contaminants\u201d. <\/p>\n A subsequent site visit found these notices had been complied with. <\/p>\n Farm to table: Will mobile abattoirs become more common?<\/p>\n Earth First owner Wait was hopeful the hurdles could be overcome.<\/p>\n He was trying to engage with \u201csenior levels of council\u201d to outline the value of mobile abattoirs.<\/p>\n He believed the operation should be treated the same as other rural services classified as a \u201cpermitted activity\u201d under the Auckland Unitary Plan.<\/p>\n Wait\u2019s team had been working with NZ Food Safety with the aim of rolling the model out widely.<\/p>\n His truck had been travelling from Hawke\u2019s Bay to Northland to test the concept, with the Herald reporting in August how it was being used at Kaipara\u2019s Danbri Farm to produce a new premium meat brand<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, should Auckland Council force the truck to get a resource consent, the ruling could have ramifications even for non-commercial home kill operations up and down the country, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf council\u2019s coming down on us, then that may in fact threaten home kill [services],\u201d Wait said. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd of course, that\u2019s a prime source … for lots of people.\u201d<\/p>\nThe mobile abattoir has also visited Danbri Farm in the Kaipara, where a family-run regenerative property has used it to create a premium Angus beef brand. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n
A photo taken by Kevin Bell of the mobile abattoir in operation on the neighbouring property on Blackbridge Rd, Dairy Flat. <\/p>\n