Chemical spraying concerns councillors

An attempt to reduce the use of controversial chemical glyphosate across Auckland has failed.

Albany councillors John Watson and Wayne Walker want to restore funding for non-chemical weed control, and are unhappy their amendment to the council’s annual plan was not allowed for debate.

‘‘The amount of glyphosate that is being used around Auckland now is phenomenal,’’ Watson says.

‘‘There’s cities all across Europe that are banning it, or have banned it already. This is a chemical that, at the very least, serious questions have been asked about.’’

Penny Webster chaired the Finance and Performance Committee proceedings on May 13 and says the amendment was brought up too late in the process.

‘‘They gave me the remit earlier in the day, but neither of them had discussed it with me,’’ she says.

‘‘It wasn’t a very nice thing for me to have to do but I had to rule it out. There was no officers’ report, there was no ‘what the implications were for the budget’.

‘‘We had an awful lot of stuff to get through.’’

Webster says Walker is the chairman of the council’s Environment, Climate Change and Natural Heritage Committee and he should bring changes in the use of glyphosate to the full council through it.

Watson says the intention to file the amendment to the budget was sent the day beforehand to the mayor’s office. Len Brown had agreed it could be debated but he was not the chairman of the meeting.

‘‘You can bring amendments up at any time,’’ Watson says.

‘‘This is one person’s decision, no doubt with the backing of other individuals, to shut it down.’’

Watson says the views of Auckland’s councillors on glyphosate have not been tested as the words in the 10-year budget that was passed in June 2015 did not mention it.

The savings to ratepayers were to be about $900,000 each year.

Watson says Auckland City and North Shore City were sprayfree for 20 years before last June.

‘‘There’s cities all across Europe that are banning it.’’

Councillor John Watson