The Whakatāne District Council’s Policy Committee has voted narrowly in favour of an amended motion that fluoride not be added to any of the District’s public water supplies.
After hearing submissions for and against fluoridation, a report on future options for District water supplies sparked passionate debate, with six of the 11 members subsequently voting to cease fluoridating the Whakatāne and Ōhope supply and not extend fluoridation to other community water schemes. Fluoride (in the form of hydrofluorosililic acid) has been added to the Whakatāne and Ōhope water supply since 1972, but no other community schemes have been fluoridated.
Speaking to the amended motion, Mayor Tony Bonne said that if fluoridation does have significant oral health benefits, without creating other health risks, its use should be a central Government decision. “I don’t think local councils should be making decisions like this and taking on the responsibility for any negative outcomes that may arise in the future,” he said.
A division was called on the motion, with Mayor Bonne and Councillors George Johnston, Scott Jarrett, Dave Sheaff, Alison Silcock and Gerard van Beek voting for the motion to not add fluoride to District water supplies; with Councillors Judy Turner, Julie Jukes, John Pullar, Russell Orr and Andrew Iles voting against the motion.
The committee has also called for a further report on the possibility of using the savings resulting from ceasing fluoridation (estimated at $3,500 a year for the Whakatāne and Ōhope supply) to promote dental health activities in District schools and preschools.
Submissions in favour of fluoridation were made by Dr Neil de Wet of Toi Te Ora Public Health and local dental practitioner John Twaddle, while Mary Byrne and Jon Burness of Fluoride-Free New Zealand spoke against the practice.
Dr de Wet’s submission cited significant improvements in oral health and particularly in children, as a result of water supply fluoridation; support for the practice by reputable health organisations around the world; a lack of credible links to any adverse health effects; and support for fluoridation in local referenda in 1995 (54% in favour), 2001 (63% in favour) and 2013 (60.5% in favour). Speaking against the practice, Ms Byrne submitted that only seven countries worldwide fluoridated the water supplied to more than half of their populations and that a number of developed countries had ceased fluoridating water supplies; that no other Bay of Plenty councils and only 23 of the 67 New Zealand councils currently fluoridate their water supplies; that fluoridation is effective through topical contact rather than by ingestion; that fluoride is a recognised neurotoxin; and that no adverse oral health effects have been experienced in communities where fluoridation has ceased.