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By Alison Sandstrom

Urban Hens

The buck stopped there: council votes no on backyard chickens

Jul 14, 2020 | 5:07 PM

A pilot project for backyard chickens in Prince Albert won’t be getting off the ground.

Responding to correspondence from local chicken enthusiasts, council decided by a one vote margin not to explore a proposal that would have allowed ten households to keep urban hens as part of a one-year pilot project.

Monday night’s executive committee wasn’t the first time backyard chickens have been debated by Prince Albert’s politicians. In 2017, council defeated a similar proposal in a 4-4 vote.

On Monday night, Coun. Evert Botha told the meeting there has been significant and sustained interest in chicken rearing from the public.

“It’s not going to go away because it definitely assists residents in maintaining some sense of food security where applicable,” he said. “But also [allows] for residents who like to grow their own food to have that opportunity.”

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Coun. Don Cody, on the other hand, said he’d received multiple calls from constituents over the weekend who told him they didn’t want the birds in their neighbourhoods.

“I didn’t have one soul that told me I should vote for this,” he said. “I think chickens and animals of that kind are meant for acreages and farms, and I don’t think they’re meant for the city.”

Mayor Greg Dionne echoed Cody’s comments.

“I bought the house in the city because I don’t want animals around me,” he said. “I did live on an acreage for 10 years and I decided that wasn’t for me. I would be opposed if the city told my two neighbours they could have chickens.”

Council voted 5-4 not to explore a backyard chicken pilot project.

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom