The Te Awamutu Community Board has passed a motion that recommends a health warning be added to water rates, to warn ratepayers of fluoride.
Board member Kane Titchener presented the motion to the board at their monthly meeting, on Tuesday – and it was passed on chair Ange Holt’s casting vote.
Kane Titchener, left, at last week’s district council meeting.
Titchener’s motion asked the board to recommend a warning be added to water rates, to raise awareness of fluoride’s IQ lowering properties “for pregnant women and those wanting to reconstitute milk formula used for bottle feeding babies”.
Waipā District Council staff provided a comment to the notice of motion and recommended the community board defer it “until information is obtained from the Ministry of Health regarding the matters raised by board member Titchener”.
At Tuesday’s meeting councillors Susan O’Regan, Lou Brown – who are appointed members of the board – and board member Richard Hurrell opposed the motion.
Jill Taylor, Ange Holt and Titchener voted in favour of it. Holt, as chair, had a second, casting vote, which she used to push the motion through.
Titchener said the warning would be similar to the lead warnings that other councils have used on their water rate bills.
In his final address on July 27, New Zealand’s then director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield ordered 14 local councils, including Waipā to add fluoride to water supplies.
More than 50 anti-fluoride proponents supported Titchener last week when he presented an argument to council opposing the adoption of its draft Water Supply Bylaw and the fluoridisation of Waipā’s water supply.
