TAUPO DECISION - A SIGNIFICANT VICTORY

The Taupo District Council today held a “resumed special purpose ordinary meeting”

Subject: use of 1080 in the Taupo District.

A motion was passed: “That in accordance with section 10B of the Local Government Act of 2002, Taupo District Council advocate with Central Government and appropriate Agencies;
VIZ: A. To develop a sustainable alternative possum eradication and trapping program.

B. Abolition of all aerial dropping of 1080 poison forthwith.


The motion was carried 6-4.
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The motion was developed over lengthy discussion and debate by councillors during the meeting with particular attention directed at getting the legalities of the motion identified before it was finally put to a democratic vote.


Councillors who voted against the motion were: Councillors: Welch, Gathergood, McElwee and Uvhagen.

The NZ District Councils stand against aerial 1080 has just doubled, to two. Westland and Taupo. Let us hope that other Councils will follow the example set by these two.

The public gallery included myself and Kirstine Bettridge from NZ WBM, Steve and Clyde Graf and supporters; Chris Short and supporters, Lance Aldridge, Dave Livingstone and supporters from Turangi plus members of the public.

The opposing councillors made some swiping ploys, one of which succeeded in principle, to restricting any significant financial expenditure by the TDC in support of its appointed advocate Councillor Don Ormsby. This ploy was initiated by councillor McElwee and we must hope that when the next council budget is done, that it includes a substantial allocation of funds specifically for the advocacy role. Councillor Uvhagen stated she could not support the motion as there were no viable alternatives to 1080. I can only conclude that she did not study our submissions very thoroughly.

Anyway, it is a significant win for us, and a brave stand by Mayor Rick Cooper and his supporting Councillors.

Thank you to all who contributed to our submissions, both directly and indirectly; in particular NZ WBM members Mary and Lindsay, Clare, Murray, Steve, Margie, Robert and myself, plus the Graf brothers and their DVD, Pat and Quinn, Lance, Dave, Alec and NZDA, and many other people who had previously contributed to assembling the ESPC submission to ERMA and parts of the submissions presented by NZ WBM. (Too many of you to list.)

One of the concerns expressed by councillors early on in the meeting was the potential of the 1080 issue to divide the community. This lever will likely not be overlooked by the pro 1080 factions, so please be aware of its potential to damage and alert to ploys from the pro 1080 factions and agencies.

This result is because of teamwork and our society’s ability to pull a team together in an effective way and the willingness of allies to contribute. Thank you all for your cooperation and input.

Sincerely, Graham Sperry.

Chairman. NZ WBM.