Edward Whynot can keep backyard chickens as council reviews bylaw

A victory, of sorts, for a Liverpool man who has been fighting for the right to keep backyard chickens.

Edward Whynot says he was told he can keep his chickens until a new bylaw is introduced allowing them.

Whynot has been battling the Region of Queens Municipality since April when he applied to have chickens. He was told he was violating a bylaw and would have to spend $700 to apply to rezone his property.

He opposed the idea saying anyone else who wanted chickens would be forced to to do the same thing, when it would be easier for the council to just change the bylaw and allow a certain number of chickens.

On Tuesday Whynot presented council with online and hand-written petitions with 500 signatures.

Shortly after that, he received a call from the municipality.

Mayor Christopher Clarke says the change of heart came as a result of a staff review of the existing bylaw.

'Not the most consequential issue'

The mayor says council voted unanimously to ask staff to report on a a specific bylaw on urban agriculture.

He says the report will likely go to council in September and will be followed by a public meeting.

"Depending on the public reaction and the feedback we get from the public will depend whether that goes forward and gets passed by council and enacted or whether it gets abandoned." Clarke said.

Whynot says while his understanding of what will happen differs from the mayor's, he's optimistic about the outcome, especially if it's based on the public's views.

"All the support I've had over the months has been phenomenal," Whynot said.

Some of that support came from the local newspaper, the Queens County Advance.

An online editorial accused the municipality of bungling the issue and giving the town a black eye.

"You can never undo the past but you can correct the future and I think it's been very unfortunate the way it's gone particularly since it's not the most consequential issue with which we're faced," said Clarke.