Council supports 1080 ban in Westland

Anti-1080 protesters have won the support of the Westland District Council.

The council's decision to back the campaigners followed a noisy protest by about 300 people who marched through Hokitika yesterday demanding aerial 1080 drops in the region be stopped.

Led by Farmers against Ten Eighty (Fate) spokesman Lindsay Molloy, the crowd gathered outside the council building while councillors were meeting. The council received a petition from Molloy that said 92.5 per cent of people from Kumara to Harihari opposed 1080 drops.

Mayor Maureen Pugh said the number of protesters was "mind-boggling", and she commended their persistence in fighting for their beliefs.

"While we don't have any legal authority to act on 1080, we do have an obligation to represent the community," she told the protesters.

The council later passed a resolution seeking to ban the use of 1080 in Westland.

The council said it would work with the Department of Conservation (DOC) and the Animal Health Board on an alternative method of possum control, such as trapping or other ground-control methods.

Molloy told The Press that after a long fight, the campaigners had decided to protest to the council in a bid to stop the DOC-Animal Health Board 1080 poisoning programme.

"Our only option left was High Court action and we couldn't afford it," he said.

"We have asked the Westland District Council to act on our behalf. We want them to take the lead in our community."

The battle between anti-1080 protesters and West Coast authorities has raged for several years on the West Coast, with protesters saying the poison kills native wildlife and destroys the environment. Authorities say they have no options because of the Coast's rugged terrain and a lack of cost-effective alternatives.

- © Fairfax NZ News