Feathers ruffled as council cries foul over noisy cockerel

Stan Wilson has had his cockerel for two years but has fallen foul of a crackdown on cockerel keeping by his own council.

As reported previously in the Yorkshire Post, Hemsworth Town Council, near Wakefield, issued warnings earlier this year to allotment holders with cockerels.

But for some reason Coun Wilson did not receive a letter and so Bert remained where he was.

But on Friday a letter arrived from the town council which accused him of breaking the tenancy rules by causing “a nuisance” to “adjacent premises”.

The letter gives him until September 30 to vacate his plot.

Cockerels are not mentioned in the letter but Councillor Wilson is in no doubt why the council has targeted him.

“I am sure it’s about the cockerel because I haven’t got shut of him. It does feel like a vendetta against me.

“I counted seven other cockerels on the allotment this morning but the owners have not had letters.

“Although I am on the council, the council does not talk to the five independent members, including me.

“The worst thing about this is the lack of any consultation. They won’t talk to us.

“There have been cockerels on these allotments for 150 years. Because of this I have not slept for two nights.

“The reason I haven’t moved my cockerel is because I want proof that it is mine causing a nuisance. There are cockerels all over this place.”

He is now considering his next move and is seeking clarification from the town council over exactly why they want him off the allotment.

He has offered to give Bert to a good home but fears this won’t prevent him losing the allotment.

Earlier this month the council’s chairman, Tony Upson, said the ban on cockerels was in line with the Allotment Act 1950.

He said the council was responding to complaints from residents about the noisy birds.

A “Save our Cockerels” petition has been circulating in Hemsworth but the council says it has taken advice and is remaining firm on its ban on cockerel keeping.