The Cambridge Community Board aims to act as a conduit between the community and Waipā District Council.
Our role is to hear and understand the thoughts and opinions of those living in Cambridge and communicate them on to council.
Jo Davies-Colley
We do this by attending council meetings, reporting frequently to elected members on what we are hearing from our community and by being involved in committees and working groups that include council staff and elected members.
At every community board monthly meeting we have a public forum where members of the community are welcome to come and present to us on any topic or issue they wish to.
We really enjoy hearing from the community, no matter how big or small the issue may be.
Our meetings are also live streamed, available to watch anytime.
At our meeting last week, we heard from a group of residents concerned with the Ministry of Health’s directive to council to fluoridate the Cambridge town water supply.
In short, on July 27, 2022, Waipā District Council was told by the Ministry it must add fluoride to the Cambridge water supply.
The Ministry of Health makes all decisions on fluoride, not council. Council was not directed to add fluoride to any other water supplies in the district.
Although council have been notified of the directive to fluoridate, they have not received funding from central government to help pay for the work required, nor is a funding agreement in place, meaning the fluoridation of our town water supply is some time away.
The Cambridge Community Board acknowledge that members of our district have very serious thoughts, some for, and some against, the fluoridation of the Cambridge town water supply.
The Ministry of Health continues to support community fluoridation as a safe, effective and affordable way of reducing tooth decay.
We also acknowledge that there is complex scientific debate underpinning this issue and consider that this level of advocacy to central government is beyond our purview as a community board.
However, this is the third time this group has presented to us and they felt like the community board was not fulfilling our role as communicators to council and that, furthermore, councillors were not aware of their advocacy around this issue.
We believe Waipā district councillors are both in touch with their community and understand that there are some community members who share concerns around fluoridation.
As it is important for us to make sure all community members have been heard, we have written to the mayor and councillors to communicate clearly the opinions and concerns of this group of residents.
We encourage all members of our community to present to us in our public forum, to email me or any of the other board members anytime on any issue that concerns you.
