Stop GE with Local Body regulations
During April and the start of May district and regional councils are accepting submissions for their Long Term Council Community Plans. Following on from the Waikato District Council Plan hearings GE Free Whaingaroa, based in Raglan, is encouraging people in other regions to submit to their own council
that GE is an issue they need to address.
With encouragement from GE Free Northland
and other groups the councils of Northland have commissioned a
combination of legal reports and expert opinions that show they can regulate GMOs. GE Free Whaingaroa built on this to construct a very compelling submission in it’s attempt to get Waikato District to become the first in the country to regulate for GMOs.
"I think even we were surprised at the success we had in engaging our councillors in this issue" said John Lawson from GE Free Whaingaroa. "As a fairly conservative council they would have preferred to steer clear of the whole GE debate but after our presentation they have decided that it is no longer an option and will be doing further research of their own."
GE Free Whaingaroa created model submissions which members of the public were able to sign, add comments if they wanted and hand in to the council. “Writing a district plan submission is no easy task” said Aaron Mooar from GE Free Whaingaroa. “Most people don’t have the time or the knowledge to make an effective one very easily so we democratised the process by writing up model submissions for anyone who was interested.
The result was that as a subject the council received more submissions on GE than any other subject and judging from their internal discussion documents they felt that they could no longer ignore the issue. GE Free Whaingaroa hopes that people in other regions will be able to have the same effect on their council and in combination with the Waikato GE Free Network has created a model LTCCP submission at the GE Free Seeds website that anyone can use to submit to their council.
“From what we understand Waikato District is reluctant to be the first to stick it’s neck out and actually incorporate controls on GMO-release into their district plan. Our fear is that if they don’t do it this time around they will end up being the last to do so”, said John Lawson. “What we need is for people all around New Zealand to make it clear to every council that they must regulate for GMOs so that the Waikato District will know that it’s part of a large public groundswell.”
John Lawson also added that the members of GE Free Whaingaroa are more than happy to give advice to groups who are preparing submissions and/or presentations in their area.
GE Free Seeds website: http://www.gefreeseeds.com
Submission page http://www.gefreeseeds.com/submission_to_council.htm
See also: Ban GMO Landuses in your community and Ground Breaking GE Hearing
and GE Free NZ local government submission page and Get your GE Free submissions in now!
Comments
Re: Stop GE with Local Body regulations
Bruce walks into his bedroom with a sheep under his arm and says:
"Darling,
this is the pig I have sex with when you have a headache."
His wife is lying in bed and replies: "I think you'll find that's a
sheep,you idiot."
Bruce says: "I think you'll find I wasn't talking to you."
Re: Stop GE with Local Body regulations
Excellent article. We all need to tell our local councils how we want them to spend our money and on which projects for the next l0 years. An important issue (especially for primary producers) is keeping GE experiments and releases out of our region. Protect your district/regions
biosecurity, unique biodiversity, farmers, key markets and heritage seeds- write to your council and tell them you want GMO land use prohibited in your area and for council to adopt a strong precautionary approach to GMOs. Go hard, and have your say.
Re: Stop GE with Local Body regulations
Ican't read it whole