An elderly pensioner has been ordered to keep his beloved geese quiet or face court and a hefty fine after being served with a nuisance abatement notice. Have a gander at this complaint.
It is the first time in 79 years of keeping geese on land he owns behind his terraced house in Ilkley, North Yorkshire, that Philip Kempley, 89, has faced any complaints about the birds.
The pensioner, who suffers from heart failure, is devastated by the order and his case has been taken up his niece Liz Tennant. She said: “These geese are his life. He has kept geese for 79 years on this land and to our knowledge there has been no issue or complaint, until now.
“The geese are generally ‘well behaved’ and only really make a noise when they are disturbed by a stranger, which the residents quite like as it alerts them to anyone wandering about the back lane.”
However, Bradford Council recently contacted Mr Kempley about a complaint and issued the notice which gives him 21 days to stop the noise nuisance. If contravened he could be fined £500 a day if the offence continues after conviction, up to £5000.
Ilkley’s independent councillor Anne Hawkesworth has branded the action “another dose of big government interfering with people’s lives” and has taken up his cause.
