Neighbours use film to fight foul-smelling poultry plant
A group of inner-city residents are declaring war on a foul-smelling chicken processing plant in the southeast neighbourhood of Ramsay.
Fighting fire with fire (or in this case chicken with chicken) Citizens Against Urban Stinky Environments (CAUSE) plans to screen the animated film Chicken Run in a field west of the Lilydale plant (2126 Hurst Road S.E.) on August 28. “It’s some individuals that have a sense of humour but are also fed up with the situation” says the group’s Xstine Cook.
Chicken Run is about a flock of imprisoned poultry trying to escape their coop. The Ramsay group is hoping the Lilydale chickens will find their way elsewhere as residents have long fought for the poultry plant to be relocated outside of their community. Residents complain of finding bird parts from dead chickens lying on the street and the stench from the plant is often noticeable blocks away. “You notice it every day of the summer” says Cook.
The group also plans to unveil the Device To Root Out Stink a sculpture of an upside-down dead chicken.
The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with a potluck (chicken perhaps?) which will be followed by egg-races and other fowl-themed activities for kids. The screening is scheduled to begin at 8:30.
Lilydale spokesperson Jacques Pelletier says that while the plant won’t remain in Ramsay “long-term” there are “no hard plans” to relocate it elsewhere.
