It began in the 1980s, on a quiet suburban street in Ellerslie, with a mother, a sick baby, and the council’s spray truck rumbling by.
Decades later, science would begin catching up with what many parents had long suspected. We recently explored some of that evidence in this article—but this story isn’t about studies. It’s about instinct, persistence, and one community’s quiet rebellion.
My name is Leonie Bartrom, and I was a mother of four little ones back in the 1980s, living in Ellerslie—a quiet suburb that, at least on the surface, felt safe. But I began noticing something. Kids were getting sick. A pattern that kept repeating. And eventually, a baby of my own who couldn’t seem to thrive.
He was my fourth child, born in December 1986. A beautiful boy, but fragile in ways I couldn’t ignore. Every time the council spray trucks rolled past—doing their routine chemical weed control—he would react. I didn’t need a toxicologist to tell me something was off. My gut knew.
So I started asking questions.
I spoke with the council, over and over. I wasn’t trying to make waves—I just wanted my baby to have a fighting chance. Eventually, they listened. Our corner of Ellerslie was granted “non-chemical” status. A small win, but it felt enormous. I truly don’t know how he would have made it without that change. It gave him space to grow, to heal, to be a child.
But the problem didn’t stop with my family.
One day, my children’s school, Michael Park School, held a sports day at Ellerslie Domain. The sun was shining, and the kids were running barefoot through the grass. That night, something strange happened. A wave of illness swept through the classrooms. Headaches, nausea, fatigue. It hit too many of them at once.
And I recognized the symptoms immediately.
Chemical poisoning.
We traced it back to the spray trucks. They’d passed through the Domain that very day.
That was the tipping point.
I helped the school connect with the Toxins Awareness Group, and together we began pushing for change, not just for Ellerslie, but for the entire Auckland region. We lobbied, we educated, we held council meetings and community talks. It took twelve long years, but eventually, in 1998, we had something solid: a Weed Management Policy, drafted by Dr Meriel Watts. Under Mayor Christine Fletcher, it was formally adopted.
Auckland became chemical-free.
We breathed easier. The grass stayed green, and the kids stayed healthy. For a while, it felt like we had won.
But in 2010, amalgamation happened. All the boroughs merged into one super-council. And just like that, Auckland’s chemical-free status was wiped out. Erased, as if none of our work had mattered.
We were back to square one.
Still, I wasn’t willing to let it go. Not after everything we’d fought for. In 2016, there was a renewed push in Ellerslie to reinstate non-chemical status. We built the case again, piece by piece, and this time Dr Lester Levy—then heading Auckland Transport—took notice. He read our correspondence in detail. And he listened.
Ellerslie was declared non-chemical once more.
Help Us Build the Bigger Picture
People often ask how change happens. They think it starts with government, or big organizations, or powerful voices. But sometimes, it starts with a sick baby in a pram. A worried mother. A few kids falling ill after sports day. A community that refuses to forget what happened.
Leonie’s story speaks for more than just one family—it reflects a growing unease about what’s being sprayed where our children live, learn, and play.
It’s a reminder that public health victories can be fragile—and that we must protect them fiercely.
Especially for the ones too small to speak for themselves.
Leonis’s story is one of courage, persistence, and quiet victories—but it’s not the only one. Across New Zealand, many have witnessed the effects of chemical spraying on their families, their health, and their communities.
If you’ve had a similar experience—or even just a gut feeling that something wasn’t right—we want to hear from you.
And if you’re one of the 300+ people who’ve received an ACC payout related to glyphosate-based weedkiller exposure—whether it was a splash, burn, eye injury or something else—we especially want to hear your story.
Your voice could help bring change.
Image Source & Attribution
A big thank you to the creators at Unsplash for making their images freely available for projects like ours. Getty Images created the image featured on this page. You can explore more of their work here.
