Auckland Council’s Environment and Community Committee voted on 5 December on options to address the spread of kauri dieback disease within the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park. The Waitakere forest is the most heavily infected forest in the country, with the rate of infection to kauri more than doubling to at least 19% over the past few years. There is no cure for the deadly disease and evidence shows that humans are the primary vector of its spread via contaminated soil tracked on footwear. The Council's five options ranged from doing nothing to full closure of the Regional Park.
