Waimairi to vote on fluoride

Press, 17 December 1985, Page 4

Waimairi to vote on fluoride

Waimairi electors will have the chance to vote on fluoridation of their water supply at the local body elections in October.

A vote by the Waimairi District Council last evening to hold, a referendum was a close one. The 12 councillors were equally divided for and against the referendum, and it was the casting vote of the District Chairman, Mrs Margaret Murray, that resulted in the decision. Had the recommendation been lost the council would have had to vote on stopping fluoridation of the water supply forthwith. With the likelihood of another tie, Mrs Murray made the traditional casting vote in favour of the status quo.

Debate on the issue was heated, although arguments differed little from those Sroffered at past fluoridaon debates by the council.

Councillors for fluoridation pointed to the evidence of scientists, dentists, and doctors. They said that if such evidence was to be ignored and instead a decision made based on the opinions of the public, all Waimairi residents, should have the opportunity to vote.

A recent survey ot ratepayers showed that 8500 were opposed to fluoridation and 6000 were in favour. Waimairi has about 41,000 electors and 23,000 ratepayers. Cr Martin Hobby said that if the council decided to remove fluoride it would have nothing to do with medical or dental opinion but would be “a political decision by people who wanted it off their plate.”

Mrs Murray said that although she believed fluoride was beneficial to the community the survey had indi-

cated that a lot of residents did not want it. The council should not have gone to the public unless it was prepared to listen to the response, she said. Research had shown that nowhere in the world had a referendum on fluoride been held and fluoride retained in the water supply.

Cr Hazel Tait had put forward the original motion calling for the immediate removal . of fluoride (amended to the call for a referendum). She said that a lot of councillors appeared to have been “taken in by pseudo-scientific rubbish,” in support of fluoridation and there was a lot of printed evidence about the dangers of fluoride. People who did not want to take fluoride were forced to carry it into the district from unfluoridated areas whereas those who wanted

it had several alternatives to a fluoridated water supply, such as fluoride toothpaste, tablets and treatment.

Waimairi’s water supply has been fluoridated for 20 years. The policy to fluoridate the water was reviewed last December and a decision made then to retain it.

Most Waimairi District councillors believe that a regional electricity distribution authority would ensure the cheapest power for consumers and efficient regional development.

The council will recommend to the Local Government Commission that such a regional authority be established to replace the seven distribution bodies which at present distribute Cower throughout Canterury.

Mrs Murray said that the

council had been told by the chairman of the commission that there would be no more than two power bodies in the region and a total of 20 in the country. At present there are 60 authorities, many of which are tied in with local bodies.

The issue of electricity distribution was as important as the amalgamation issue, she said. The council’s sub-committee had considered the options offered by the commission and had decided that one distribution authority would best meet the needs of the wider community. Under one authority, the urban and rural communities could co-operate efficiently, the former using electricity during the day and the latter at night (for example, for irrigation). Regional ■ developmnt could then be encouraged by energy pricing, she said.