A STREET of Footscray residents have had their feathers ruffled after Maribyrnong City Council ordered the eviction of chickens from what has become a community coop.
Dusk Liney and her husband added three chickens to a veggie patch on their Eldridge St property more than a year ago and said the trio had become popular among the locals.
But feathers flew when Maribyrnong City Council ordered that the chickens be removed from the property.
Facing a $2000 fine, the pair moved the chickens and three newly-hatched chicks to a community garden in Ascot Vale – but have since gained 125 signatures from fellow residents calling for the chickens to be reinstated.
“When we looked at the local law, it did actually say that if you’re in a flat, you can’t have chooks, but we are arguing that we are on a property and the chooks are not inside the flat,” Ms Liney said.
“We’ve got a letter of support from our body corporate, and all the residents in our block have signed the petition and as well as a letter of support from the owners of our flat.
“We feel that having them here was such a vital and life-giving part of the community.
“We don’t see them as our chickens, we see them as the Eldridge St chickens. The reason we’ve kicked up such a fight is because we really do believe it benefits the community.”
The property in question is a double storey block of 10 flats, flanked by other blocks of flats.
The council tendered the petition at last week’s council meeting and will present a report on the issue at the March Ordinary Council Meeting on 19 March.
