About 70 people turned out to a blockade at the Corndale fluoride dosing plant yesterday but Rous Water general manager Kym Lavelle reckons they’re protesting in the wrong place.
Members of the Fluoride Free Northern Rivers group gathered outside the dosing plant, and even erected a tripod as ‘a calling card to remind Rous that the community will stand up against the forced fluoridation of the Lismore water supply’.
Aboriginal singer Blakboi provided entertainment and elders Reg King and Micky Ryan, along with Robert Corowa, lit a ceremonial fire to bless the protest.
The elders are writing to Rous Water, Lismore City Council and the Environment Protection Authority asking for a cultural assessment of a very old tree standing within twenty metres of the plant that may have been scarred by Aboriginal ancestors.
Yesterday’s blockade followed protests last week outside the Rous Water office in Lismore, and activists have vowed to continue with their actions.
But Rous Water general manager Kym Lavelle told ABC radio that the protests would not impede the fluoridation of the water supply.
‘There’s been quite a lot of talk in social media and the newspaper but at the end of the day we’ve been very transparent,” Mr Lavelle said.
‘We’ve been tested in court three times and we’re under the direction of the NSW Government.
‘I think they’re protesting in the wrong place myself,’ he said.
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