Rooster owner Alisa Cole attended a council hearing at the Civic Theatre yesterday morning, chaired by Cr Darren Ludlow, who was supported by Crs Lesley Soper and Trish Boyle.
Mrs Cole requested the hearing following months of back and forth with council staff after a neighbour complained about the level of noise produced by the rooster, which had resulted in Mrs Cole building a box to keep the rooster inside within a hutch during the hours it crowed.
While this temporarily resolved the issue, Mrs Cole never received communication from the council that the complainant was happy with the arrangement and the complaint had been dropped. Believing the issue was resolved, she let the rooster out of the box.
The complainant complained again, and Mrs Cole was ordered to remove the rooster.
The initial council report stated Mrs Cole received the email detailing the complainant’s satisfaction, though this was withdrawn during the hearing as an investigation had shown the email was never sent.
Mrs Cole told the panel she was prepared to reinstall the box, which a family member would further soundproof using polystyrene.
Mrs Cole had a family member present as a support person, Peter, who did not want his surname published, who took umbrage with the entire process, including that the names of those involved had been made public.
When the documents were made public by the council, the name and address of the complainant were published and later redacted.
Cr Ludlow apologised for this, saying it was an "administrative error".
Following the meeting, Peter said the process felt like "a wheel rolling over you".
Cr Ludlow said the decision was reserved and it was expected to be released next week.
