Bacup petting farm owner plans protest

10:00am Wednesday 18th July 2012 in News

THE OWNER of a petting farm taken to court by Rossendale Council for health and safety breaches is planning to march his animals through Bacup in protest.

Terry Bork, 49, who runs Animal Quackers, was given a five month prison sentence, suspended for two years, for breaches relating to an E-Coli risk at his Huttock Top Farm venue in Bacup.

He was also charged with operating a riding establishment without a licence and failing to provide a suitable supply of hot running water to the wash stations, and was also given 240 hours unpaid work.

Magistrates said that it had been a “persistent and flagrant disregard” of health and safety regulations.

But Bork claims he is being victimised by the council, and now plans to take to the streets with “at least 300” supporters and his animals, even though he has had to sell some to fund work the council wanted carrying out.

He said: “We are planning a protest march through Bacup with the animals and at least 300 people.

“I have been victimised by the council, I am 100 per cent sure of it. I am seeking meetings with the council. I want a cards on the table approach. But I have been told that they want to shut me down and they want my land for redevelopment, but I’m going nowhere.”

Animal Quackers was imposed with a 28-day closure order around two weeks ago, but Bork said they would be re-opening as soon as that runs out.

Rossendale Council barr-ister Tom Lord asked the court to award over £2,200 costs to the council, to offset the “considerable cost to the public purse”, but Burnley Magistrates’ Court only made Bork pay £260 costs, as he is currently on Jobseekers’ Allowance.

Helen Lockwood, chief executive of Rossendale Council, said: “The decision to take action against Mr Bork wasn’t taken lightly and following his failure to respond to numerous advice notices issued over the three years, we felt we had no other course of action but to proceed with enforcement and prosecution to protect members of the public from a potential EColi 0157 outbreak”.

Comments (7)

10:18am Wed 18 Jul 12

her from here says...

Good luck hope you can sort it out.
Good luck hope you can sort it out. her from here

10:31am Wed 18 Jul 12

RUinsane says...

As a way of protest I am going to get these 23 white mice. Which I have painstakingly trained, to squeak at a determined pitch, then chromatically arranged on this rack from E sharp down to G and, when played in the correct manner, will recite the bells of St Marys. Ladies and gentlemen on the mouse organ I give you the bells of St Marys.
Monty pythons the mouse organ see You tube. Thankyou the Monty Python team.
As a way of protest I am going to get these 23 white mice. Which I have painstakingly trained, to squeak at a determined pitch, then chromatically arranged on this rack from E sharp down to G and, when played in the correct manner, will recite the bells of St Marys. Ladies and gentlemen on the mouse organ I give you the bells of St Marys. Monty pythons the mouse organ see You tube. Thankyou the Monty Python team. RUinsane

12:47pm Wed 18 Jul 12

Doug Spencer says...

I'm not always a supporter of Rossendale Council however, on this occassion they have probably done the right thing by prosecuting. I have visited Animal Quackers and was appalled at many of the things I saw. It seemed to me that someone had had an idea and instead of asking for advice from anbody, they had just gone a head and opened up the farm.
Hand washing and protecting the public health is, sadly, a must now a days. If the council had turned a blind eye and an outbreak of any disease had occured, I am pretty sure the comments and report of the outbreak would have been about how the council failed!. It seems a case of damned if they do and damned if they don't.
Hand washing is not just to protect the visitors. It also stops cross contamination between species. Maybe if 'farner Terry, had asked for advice before opening or at least heeded the advice given later, he would now be enjoying a successful business.
The lesson here, is to fully explore all regulations that apply to any business and ask for advice BEFORE you get prosecuted.
I'm not always a supporter of Rossendale Council however, on this occassion they have probably done the right thing by prosecuting. I have visited Animal Quackers and was appalled at many of the things I saw. It seemed to me that someone had had an idea and instead of asking for advice from anbody, they had just gone a head and opened up the farm. Hand washing and protecting the public health is, sadly, a must now a days. If the council had turned a blind eye and an outbreak of any disease had occured, I am pretty sure the comments and report of the outbreak would have been about how the council failed!. It seems a case of damned if they do and damned if they don't. Hand washing is not just to protect the visitors. It also stops cross contamination between species. Maybe if 'farner Terry, had asked for advice before opening or at least heeded the advice given later, he would now be enjoying a successful business. The lesson here, is to fully explore all regulations that apply to any business and ask for advice BEFORE you get prosecuted. Doug Spencer

1:33pm Wed 18 Jul 12

Your ferret stinks says...

Sounds to me like this guy is playing the system and lost on this occassion as the publics health has got to take precedence, however he has not lost totally as he is running a business and still being allowed to claim job seekers allowance.....Hmmnnn maybe i should try that one.
Sounds to me like this guy is playing the system and lost on this occassion as the publics health has got to take precedence, however he has not lost totally as he is running a business and still being allowed to claim job seekers allowance.....Hmmnnn maybe i should try that one. Your ferret stinks

9:57pm Wed 18 Jul 12

RossendaleKnight says...

I agree that protecting the public is important, but instead of just hounding the guy - the council should be working with him to sort the problems. RBC claim they want the valley to move towards tourism yet they seem to thwart anyone's attempts to build anything to attract people to visit.
I can't say whether the council have plans to develop the site? But I do feel they are intent on closing it down. Just as they did with a man who tried to open a local caravan site - which they lead everyone to believe was a site for Gypsies - but was really meant as a caravan and camping site for visitors.
Come on RBC get behind these people who are only trying to do what you say you want for the valley!
I agree that protecting the public is important, but instead of just hounding the guy - the council should be working with him to sort the problems. RBC claim they want the valley to move towards tourism yet they seem to thwart anyone's attempts to build anything to attract people to visit. I can't say whether the council have plans to develop the site? But I do feel they are intent on closing it down. Just as they did with a man who tried to open a local caravan site - which they lead everyone to believe was a site for Gypsies - but was really meant as a caravan and camping site for visitors. Come on RBC get behind these people who are only trying to do what you say you want for the valley! RossendaleKnight

11:16am Thu 19 Jul 12

HelmshoreBoy says...

Just how much guidance and advice do RBC have to give "Farmer Terry", short of taking it over and running it on his behalf. Over the years they have clearly offered plenty of help and advice and he has failed to heed it Plus if you consider that he was the recipient of grants to start his venture, I believe the various council bodies have leaned over backwards for him and to a certain degree he has taken advantage of their benevolence and hood winked a few in the course. At the end of the day, the council have said, enough is enough and rightly so. If that is hounding him out of business, so be it. I call it something else. The man obviously lacks any business acumen to take advantage of all the help that has been offered.
Just how much guidance and advice do RBC have to give "Farmer Terry", short of taking it over and running it on his behalf. Over the years they have clearly offered plenty of help and advice and he has failed to heed it Plus if you consider that he was the recipient of grants to start his venture, I believe the various council bodies have leaned over backwards for him and to a certain degree he has taken advantage of their benevolence and hood winked a few in the course. At the end of the day, the council have said, enough is enough and rightly so. If that is hounding him out of business, so be it. I call it something else. The man obviously lacks any business acumen to take advantage of all the help that has been offered. HelmshoreBoy

1:46pm Thu 19 Jul 12

cloudysky says...

he is on job seekers allowance, having his mortgage paid and running a petty farm without planning permission or a licence whilst putting kids lives at risk, apart from that its all tickety boo.....
he is on job seekers allowance, having his mortgage paid and running a petty farm without planning permission or a licence whilst putting kids lives at risk, apart from that its all tickety boo..... cloudysky

Comments are closed on this article.

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree