By paNOW Staff

Opponents furious after RM of Rudy approves application to build feedlot

Oct 29, 2010 | 4:39 PM

paNOW Staff

Opponents of a proposed cattle feedlot near Outlook are furious with the Rural Municipality of Rudy after it approved an application that would allow a massive feedlot to be built.
In a closed meeting Thursday night, the RM council approved the zoning change despite a petition last week which called for a referendum on the issue.
Many in the area say the feedlot will create unsafe drinking water in the nearby South Saskatchewan River.
The RM's legal people say the petition is not valid because it was filed under the wrong Provincial Government Act. It should have been presented under the Planning and Development Act. Instead, it was filed under the Municipalities Act.
Sue Peterson, one of the people who put the petition together and who is also with the Safe Drinking Water Foundation, says people now need to lobby the province to stop the feedlot.
“You've got to realize that more than 60 per cent of Saskatchewan people get their water from this river system,” said Peterson.
“The river has dropped 15 per cent in volume in the last 30 years and the more you pollute that water as the volume decreases, the more impact those pollutants are going to have.”
The feedlot will be able to hold up to 36,000 head of cattle.
Reeve Wayne Vaxvick doesn't have much sympathy for the opponents of the feedlot.
“You know what the laws of Saskatchewan are, and we must follow the law of our senior government, and they did not,” Vaxvick said.
Vaxvick noted the matter is out of the RM's hands now. If Namaka Farms is to build its feedlot, it will have to have its plan approved by the provincial government.
Vaxvick believes Namaka has a solid track record working with governments. He doesn't think there will be any problems getting the feedlot up and running