Council will comply with the Director General of Health’s directive to fluoridate Rotorua city’s central and eastern water supplies with fluoridation to start on Friday, 28 March.
Unfluoridated water will be available to residents who want it at Caledonia Street, Ngongotah?, where there is a tap located on the road berm between Dawson Drive and Beamont Street, near the existing water filling station.
Unfluoridated water will also be made available via a water tank at Puarenga Park, off Te Ngae Road (towards the wastewater treatment plant site). This will become available in about four weeks to allow for installation of a pressure pump. Because this area is in the central water supply area, which is to be fluoridated, tankers will transport unfluoridated water to fill the tank.
Council may upgrade these unfluoridated supplies or add additional supplies depending on demand.
At a meeting of Council today elected members passed a recommendation, by a majority vote, noting the council chief executive will comply with the directive of the Director-General of Health to start water fluoridation as legally required under the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021.
Council will ask the Ministry of Health to communicate with the Rotorua community about the reasons for the directive to fluoridate.
Elected members also voted in favour of an additional recommendation, put forward by Cr Robert Lee, that they consult with the CE with a view to writing to the Prime Minister to request a commission of inquiry into the safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness of fluoridation in New Zealand.
The original directive from the Director General of Health for Rotorua Lakes Council to fluoridate its central and eastern water supplies directed that this be implemented by November 2024 but following correspondence with the Director General the council was given until 28 March 2025.
The Ministry of Health’s view is that fluoridation of water supplies is a safe, effective and affordable public health measure to improve dental health. Other groups and individuals remain strongly opposed.
The Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act passed in November 2021 empowered the Director-General of Health to direct local authorities to fluoridate water supplies, removing decision-making regarding the fluoridation of water supplies from local authorities.
The courts have confirmed that the existing directives to fluoridate are legal and valid unless/until revoked by the Director General of Health. This means Rotorua Lakes Council is legally required to fluoridate the central and eastern water supplies by 28 March 2025, as directed.
Council would face the risk of substantial fines if it did not comply and may also have to repay the $3.1m received from the Ministry of Health to cover the capital costs of setting up systems required for fluoridation.
See p23 of the meeting agenda for the full report on this matter.
Go directly to this part of the recording of the livestreamed meetings via this link
Original article online at: https://www.rotorualakescouncil.nz/our-council/news/news?item=id:2tlzy6z1117q9s88v7pr