Northland Regional Council opts out of joint GE effort

1.00pm

Northland Regional Council has backed away from helping to fund a Northland-wide approach to the control of genetically engineered organisms.

All district councils north of Auckland have indicated their support for a Northland-wide approach to the issue after a legal opinion found they should be able to control the release of GE organisms.

The councils are now being asked to help fund further work on the project.

But at yesterday's NRC meeting, councillors agreed to hold off funding.

Chairman Mark Farnsworth said the Northland-wide initiative was more relevant to district councils than to the regional council.

Regional councils have responsibility over emissions to land, sea and air, whereas district councils are responsible for land use.

The NRC has joined six of New Zealand's 16 regional councils in an initiative spearheaded by Environment Bay of Plenty to seek a legal opinion on their likely jurisdiction over GE organisms.

Mr Farnsworth said the council was "not saying no" to a Northland-wide approach but wanted to wait for the outcome of the Environment Bay of Plenty initiative before committing to it.

Earlier this month, Whangarei District Council (WDC) agreed to contribute $10,000 to the Northland-wide approach.

WDC's monitoring team leader, Kerry Grundy, said he was "disappointed but not totally surprised" by the regional council's decision.

He said that, although only Whangarei had committed funding so far, councils of Far North, Kaipara, Rodney and Waitakere were expected to follow suit with similar amounts -- however that commitment would not happen until the next council meetings by mid-September.

- NZPA