http://www.chbdc.govt.nz/home/ http://www.chbdc.govt.nz/not-our-costs-please/#PageComment_95 Trish, you need to stand up and ensure that something is done. Even take a step to enact a bylaw in regards to 'un-slightly buildings'. This could even already be within the district plan. If you don't stand up to this, this could be an issue that bites when it come to re-election. You have a Chief Executive that is paid a huge amount of money who we as ratepayers have not even heard from. To me, that's not good enough, especially in regards to issues like this. Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:08:36 +1300 Gareth Pearce http://www.chbdc.govt.nz/not-our-costs-please/#PageComment_95 http://www.chbdc.govt.nz/waipawa-celebrates-150-years/#PageComment_94 I will be there, I was born at the Annexe in 1951. Cr Keriana Poulain Hastings District Council Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:25:58 +1300 Keriana Poulain http://www.chbdc.govt.nz/waipawa-celebrates-150-years/#PageComment_94 http://www.chbdc.govt.nz/fluoridation-for-or-against/#PageComment_93 I refer to two blogs I wrote re: Fluoridation: http://www.penneylaneonline.com/2009/12/17/white-out/ http://www.penneylaneonline.com/2009/12/18/a-tooth-for-a-tooth/ these blogs give the historical frame of reference surrounding the issue. Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:05:29 +1300 Gail Penney http://www.chbdc.govt.nz/fluoridation-for-or-against/#PageComment_93 http://www.chbdc.govt.nz/fluoridation-for-or-against/#PageComment_92 I refer to my two blogs re: Fluoridation giving a historical background of this issue, see: http://www.penneylaneonline.com/2009/12/17/white-out/ http://www.penneylaneonline.com/2009/12/18/a-tooth-for-a-tooth/ the latter of which comes at Graham Plaister's concern about 'informed consent' from another perspective. Tue, 22 Dec 2009 07:59:31 +1300 Gail Penney http://www.chbdc.govt.nz/fluoridation-for-or-against/#PageComment_92 http://www.chbdc.govt.nz/chb-youth-council/#PageComment_87 Thanks Hilary, I'd like all of the Councillors to meet with Inspire and talk to them about their various portfolios. let's make a date! Shelley Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:36:30 +1200 Shelley Burne-Field http://www.chbdc.govt.nz/chb-youth-council/#PageComment_87 http://www.chbdc.govt.nz/chb-youth-council/#PageComment_86 My congratulations to you Shelley and your council some of whose names are known to me. As a district councillor I am heartened that we now have a group of young people with ideas and opinions relevant to your age group. You are our future district leaders and we need to listen. If I have a particular interest it would be in the the culture and arts portfolio. I will lookk forward to hearing more of your activities. Good luck and good wishes, Hilary Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:15:56 +1200 Hilary Pedersen http://www.chbdc.govt.nz/chb-youth-council/#PageComment_86 http://www.chbdc.govt.nz/chb-youth-council/#PageComment_85 Looking foward to hearing more about the award for the Weirdest or Most Interesting Talent! Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:51:32 +1200 Thrash Cardiom http://www.chbdc.govt.nz/chb-youth-council/#PageComment_85 http://www.chbdc.govt.nz/fluoridation-for-or-against/#PageComment_59 Thanks for your post Ross. Council is happy that this blog and forum can be used to present a wide variety views. The public meeting is tonight - Thurs 10 Sep at the Waipukurau Memorial Hall at 5.30pm. Regards. Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:01:31 +1200 Shelley Burne-Field http://www.chbdc.govt.nz/fluoridation-for-or-against/#PageComment_59 http://www.chbdc.govt.nz/fluoridation-for-or-against/#PageComment_48 One of the interesting and necessary discussions to be held around the fluoridation issue is on the social and ethical question of mass medication. The best short contribution to this discussion is from Dr Arvid Carlsson, Nobel Laureate in Medicine (2000) who says: “Fluoridation is against all modern principles of pharmacology. It’s obsolete. I don’t think anybody, not a single dentist, would bring up this question in Sweden anymore.” There is also a wealth of accumulated science concluding that fluoride doesn’t work for dental health by swallowing it and that using it topically as a varnish or in toothpaste is the only viable option. There are also known health risks of fluoridation especially for infants, those with chronic kidney disease and various allergies among others. In continuing to assert that there are years of research throughout the world showing that community water fluoridation is a proven public health measure district health boards and other agencies grossly misinform communities. A systematic review of public water fluoridation undertaken by researchers in the UK National Health Service, the universities of York, Wales and Leicester and the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health searched 25 electronic databases (with no language restrictions) and the world-wide-web. Relevant journals and indices were hand searched and attempts were made to contact authors for further information. This project is known as ‘The York Review’. The review was exceptional in this field in that it was conducted by an independent group to the highest international scientific standards. A summary has been published in the British Medical Journal. Inclusion criteria were assessed independently by at least two reviewers. Extraction of data from and validity assessment of included studies was independently performed by two reviewers, and checked by a third reviewer. Disagreements were resolved through consensus. The best available evidence forthcoming suggested that fluoridation of drinking water supplies does slightly reduce caries prevalence, both as measured by the proportion of children who are caries free and the mean change in the decayed, missing or filled teeth index score but the review says that estimates of effect could be biased due to poor adjustment for the effects of potential confounding factors. The studies reviewed were not only of moderate quality but also of limited quantity and the degree to which caries is reduced was not clear from the data available. Not one study of grade A status, that is one of “high quality, bias unlikely”, was found. Four years after publication, so incensed was he at misrepresentations of its findings by British dental and medical establishments, that Prof Trevor Sheldon of York University, as former chair of the review advisory group, responded with an open letter to correct some of their errors. He stated: 1. Whilst there is evidence that water fluoridation is effective at reducing caries, the quality of the studies was generally moderate and the size of the estimated benefit far from ‘massive’. 2. The review found water fluoridation to be significantly associated with high levels of dental fluorosis which was not characterised as ‘just a cosmetic issue’. 3. The review did not show water fluoridation to be safe. 4. There was little evidence to show that water fluoridation has reduced social inequalities in dental health. 5. The review could come to no conclusion as to the cost-effectiveness of water fluoridation or whether there are different effects between natural or artificial fluoridation. 6. Probably because of the rigour with which this review was conducted, these findings are more cautious and less conclusive than in most previous reviews. 7. The review team was surprised that in spite of the large number of studies carried out over several decades there is a dearth of reliable evidence with which to inform policy. My reading indicates that in the intervening eight years since the York Review there is now considerable evidence supporting a highly precautionary approach to fluoridation which should drive policy by both health agencies and local governments. Health authorities also ignore World Health Organisation data unequivocally showing that dental health is improving around the world whether communities are fluoridated or not. The DHB position on fluoridation is untenable. Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:46:53 +1200 Ross http://www.chbdc.govt.nz/fluoridation-for-or-against/#PageComment_48 http://www.chbdc.govt.nz/fluoridation-for-or-against/#PageComment_45 Local dentist, John Jukes, will present information 'against' fluoridation at a meeting at the Waipukurau Memorial Hall on Thursday 10 September at 5.30pm. HB DHB will present information 'for' fluoridation. There will also be a Q & A session for the public. Tue, 08 Sep 2009 08:17:48 +1200 Shelley Burne-Field http://www.chbdc.govt.nz/fluoridation-for-or-against/#PageComment_45