Monday, 15 March: A committee of local community residents has championed a historic move by the Blue Mountains City Council to ban a notorious chemical outlawed elsewhere in the world.

1080 poison is a uniformly lethal substance in the same restricted class as other infamous chemicals like arsenic and cyanide. Due to its indiscriminate potency and the threat it poses to all animals, including humans, it is listed as a chemical of national security concern by the Federal Government. In pest control programs organised by the Greater Sydney Local Land Services and the National Parks and Wildlife Service in the Blue Mountains region, it is laced in meat-based baits intended to kill foxes and dingoes and laid on the ground or dropped out of helicopters. It has been condemned by peak Australian animal welfare agencies as cruel and inhumane due to the suffering it causes.

"1080 is a chemical so infamous for its cruelty that almost every other nation on Earth refuses to permit it past its borders. Its use is prohibited in many countries based on the breathtaking danger it presents any animal unlucky enough to 'take the bait'. Though proponents claim that it represents current best-practice in pest animal management, the ends do not justify the means. No animal deserves to suffer the torture 1080 puts its victims through. The leadership shown by the Blue Mountains City Council should be a wake-up call for other local governments. An outright ban is overdue and it's time to get rid of it for good" - Alex Vince, co-founder and campaign coordinator.

The Blue Mountains ban is a milestone in the growing national movement against 1080. Animal welfare concerns extend beyond the targeted species. Cases across the country involving the deaths of pets have reached headlines and primetime television news as traumatised families share first-hand accounts of the horror they have seen. The Blue Mountains Action Group and its committee are determined to be the voice of wild animals in the region who suffer the same fate and provide the community with information the authorities have failed to offer. It has recently distributed hundreds of flyers to local households alerting them to ongoing baiting programs in nearby national parks.

"My neighbours and I are very concerned that we haven't been warned of 1080 baiting in the National Park in the Glenbrook area", a statement by the Blue Mountains 1080 Action Group reads. "We are all opposed to 1080 baiting and we fear for the wildlife in our beautiful World Heritage area as 1080 baiting is extremely cruel and indiscriminate".

The group, its committee and concerned local residents are meeting with representatives of the National Parks and Wildlife Service to discuss these concerns tomorrow.