Time for Northland Regional Council to support its territorial authorities and Auckland Council "super city" in keeping GMOs out of the region

ACTION ALERT

 

Want to help to protect our existing valuable GE free
status from GE experiments and releases on our patch?


You can make a difference.

WHY?
A hugely important meeting of the Northland Regional Council is being
held this Tuesday, 15 November at Kaikohe, where your councillors will
vote on a important GE agenda item.

 

see


www.facebook.com/home.php#!/groups/159518017436869/

 

Many Tai Tokerau Iwi have excellent prohibitive or precautionary GE
policies for their rohe....and local concils have precautionary or prohibitive policies in their Long Term Council Community Plans and/or Annual Plans.

but: did you know that all other Northland councils and the Auckland
Council "super city" have voted to fund a proposed plan change so that
Northland/Auckland region can be the first in New Zealand to regulate
GMOs in some way (an additional tier of protection beyond the
inadequate national rules)?

This is great news. Auckland Council voted to do so on 21 July 2011,
WDC on l3 April 2011, FNDC in June 2011 and KDC on 26 Oct 2011.

The Whangarei District Council, the Far North District Council,
Kaipara District Council and Auckland Council "supercity" have all
come together and have agreed to contribute funding to undertake a
collaborative section 32 analysis (as part of the proposed plan
change) to make this a reality but the Northland Regional Council have
still not come to the party.

It is vital that we all ask our NRC Clrs to vote to contribute funds
towards the current work programme of the "Inter Council Working Party
on GMO Risk Evaluation & Management Options", of which NRC is a full
member.

If you have concerns about GMOs in our food or environment and want to
retain our valuable existing GE free status in Tai Tokerau, please
either phone or email your NRC councillors. There contact
information is included below and tell them you want them to:

1. to vote to support the NRC fully participating in the Inter Council
Working Party on GMOs current work programme (helping to fund a
collaborative section 32 analysis on GMOs)

2, uphold the NRC's existing precautionary GE policy (as contained in
the operative Long Term Council Community Plan 2009/19) and the
precautionary GE provision that the NRC proposed for the NRC "Regional
Policy Statement"

3.  (personalize your concerns about GMOs here)  

You can point out that this is a golden opportunity for NRC to help
put "rules with teeth" against GMOs  in place in this region, to protect its
ratepayers and the environment, at low cost....sharing staff time and
expertise.  With all councils sharing the cost, it will cost
approximately only $25,000 for each council to do this important
innovative work at a time when applications for risky GE applications
are being lodged with the national regulator in NZ.

If you would like to come up to the meeting in Kaikohe on Tuesday we
will be carpooling north from Whangarei with a big load of banners
(bring a placard supporting GE Free).

 If you need a ride or would like to join the convoy north,  pls phone
Anna Murphy 09 4343009 or Zelka Grammer, 09 4322155.  Marty Robinson
is the contact for Kerikeri in Far North (tel 09 470 4650)

Kia kaha
Thanks for your support
cheers
Zelka, Anna, Marty and Barry
the GE Free Northland Team

NRC Clr contact details

WHANGAREI (4)
Clr John Bain *
Phone: 09 437 6096
Email: jbain@internet.co.nz

Clr Tony Davies Colley *
Phone: 09 435 4090
Email: tony@westpoint.net.nz

Clr Bill Rossiter *
Phone: 09 437 2807
Email: billro@xtra.co.nz

Chairman Craig Brown *
Phone: 09 432 7575
Email: cae.brown@xtra.co.nz

FAR NORTH DISTRICT (3)
Clr Joe Carr *
Phone: 09 401 9197
Email: carr.clan@farmside.co.nz

Clr Bronwyn Hunt *
Phone: 0275 222 116
Email: bronyh@hotmail.com

Clr Ian Walker *
Phone: 09 408 0072
Email: ian@nzfarmers.com

KAIPARA
Clr Graeme Ramsey *
(Dargaville)
Phone: 09 439 7022
Email: baylys@igrin.co.nz