A Cambridge lobby group has started a battle to stop the town’s water supply bring fluoridated.

The outgoing director general of health Ashley Bloomfield instructed the Waip? District Council to add fluoride to Cambridge supplies – but not elsewhere in Waip? – as a parting gesture when he retired in 2022.

But the High Court has since ruled required aspects of the decision making process were not followed.

It has yet to make a final ruling on the matter. Proponents say it is procedural, opponents are hoping it is a death knell.

A Fluoride Free Cambridge coordinator, Sam Hore, says a petition it is backing has drawn hundreds of signatures.

He says the petition argues residents do not want fluoride added to their drinking water, the Waip? District Council’s duty is to the communities it serves, not central Government policy, and calls for infrastructure work be put on hold.

The group intends to present the petition to the Cambridge Community Board early in 2024.

The fledgling group’s Facebook page had 57 followers when The News checked on Monday.

*Original full-text article online at: https://www.cambridgenews.nz/2023/12/fluoride-battle-continues/

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