We have just endured another Hicane season and yet again witnessed the widely used chemical sprayed on neighbouring kiwifruit orchards on unsuitable, extremely windy days. We rang the Pollution Hotline, as advised to, and our complaint has gone into a data base, but we have no assurance that anything is going to be done about it.

After reading a news article with the heading ‘Few complaints as growers prepare to spray', John Morris- Regional Council senior pollution prevention officer states there were 22 complaints made last year and no fines issued. So I believe many people are not complaining because they can see that nothing is being done about it, or they do not want to be disliked by there neighbours, or kiwifruit community.

We are all being exposed to Hicane and other nasty chemicals, because we drive or walk past numerous orchards while they are spraying, and it is getting into our waterways and destroying our land for future use. No one will be able to plant vegetables where a constantly sprayed kiwifruit orchard has been. We all need to wake up and put our environment first.

J Floyd, Katikati