The Lismore City Council has decided to stop adding fluoride to local water supplies, with other regional councils now considering following suit.

At a meeting this week the Lismore Council voted to cease dosing drinking water with fluoride, upholding the decision with a six-to-four split. Now the nearby Ballina Shire says it may mirror the move.

The debate has been steeped in controversy for years, recently re-enlivened by a High Court decision in June in favour of councils having the right to fluoridate the water in NSW.

The Mayor of Lismore said: “In the opinion of the lawyer, councils did have the opportunity to say no but I think most of the reasons were councillors felt there were too many unanswered questions, ideas that this was mass medication, imposing something in the drinking water that many people did not want.”

Some reports say Councillor Vanessa Ekins moved the motion based on the lack of evidence of community support for fluoridation, which is now having a ripple-effect in neighbouring locales.

Ballina Councillor Keith Williams said he’s bringing the motion to the Shire: “I was probably approached by more people about this issue than any other single thing during the recent council election. It made me think about the issue a lot more than I probably had before and I suppose I've come down on an ethical stance which leaves me feeling concerned about it,” Williams said, “I think council ultimately has a responsibility to provide clean safe drinking water and I think the decision about fluoride is actually quite a separate role to that and that's about a medication program and I am not comfortable that we are really in a position to make that decision.”

The debate will likely run endlessly throughout some regional councils, the controversy even has its own Wikipedia entry which details the medical benefits, myths and arguments for and against fluoridation.