Letter to the Editor: Dangerous spraying of glyphosate and poisons

As I go for runs around my local streets of Pt Chevalier, Westmere, Grey Lynn and Herne Bay,

I have witnessed many incidents of dangerous spraying of glyphosate and poisons in inclement weather and near waterways with apparent lack of care or observance of best practice. Auckland Council have responded to my complaints admitting that these practices do go against their own rules, yet they do little to nothing to stop it other than to say, “we will have a word to our contractors”. Obviously with little effect as misuse of glyphosate continues. Why is it the council doesn’t insist using steam instead of poison for weed control like some other areas of Auckland?

Graffiti also continues to be an unsightly problem. One tag or slogan may not seem a problem, but one becomes two, becomes three and so on. The continued presence of graffiti encourages more and does nothing to enhance our communities or our sense of feeling safe. Council employee or council contractors do not go around looking for graffiti to magically remove it while we sleep. With this in mind, I have reported countless tagging to the graffiti team who, to their credit, act quickly to remove it. They have even rung me on occasions to ask questions to be sure that they use the right medium for removal. My point is, I’m not a council employee and this takes a lot of my time and I am left wondering why others care so little about the neighbourhood not to do the same.

It’s easy, just go online and report it to www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Linda Hill, Westmere

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