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21 June 2007
Council to debate wastewater referendum
Manukau City Councillor Jami-Lee
Ross is pushing for a referendum to be held on Manukau Water’s
contentious fixed wastewater charges.
Mr Ross has announced that he will
be calling on councillors at a meeting on Thursday 28 June to
support his notice of motion directing the Manukau City Electoral
Officer to conduct the referendum.
“Wastewater charges in this city
have generated a lot of interest with the public since Manukau
City Council started charging a fixed $320 wastewater charge last
year.
“At the time, several councillors
and I advocated very strongly for a charge to these wastewater
charges to they would be based predominantly on a persons water
consumption. However this proposal was rejected by the Council and
instead the charges were increase by a further 10 percent.
“Wastewater charges are a very
important issue for the ratepayers of this city. I am proposing
that a referendum be held so that ratepayers who feel strongly
about this issue can have an opportunity to voice their preference
on whether the charges should be an annual fixed charge, or based
on water consumption.”
Mr Ross has proposed that the
referendum be held at the same time as October’s local government
elections. He says that is the best time to measure public opinion
because public participation is at its highest.
“Traditional methods of public
consultation usually result in a few hundred submitters. However
holding a referendum on the issue gives all ratepayers a voice on
the wastewater issue.
“Council has also indicated that it
will be conducting a full review of wastewater charges early next
year. This referendum would be a perfect method for guiding that
review.”
If Mr Ross’ notice of motion is
successful the Manukau City Electoral Officer will be responsible
for the preparing the wording of the referendum question.
However the motion that the Council
debates will also request the Electoral Officer to word the
question so that asked electors can express a preference for
either volumetric or fixed wastewater charges.
In May this year Mr Ross, along with
councillors Dick Quax and Bob Wichman, attempted to have the
wastewater charges changed to be based on water consumption. This
method of charging is similar to wastewater charges in Auckland
City and Papakura District.
Mr Ross says he believes some sort
of volumetric system of charging is the fairest way to charge to
wastewater charges and would more accurately reflect the services
that ratepayers receive.
While wastewater charges are levied
by Manukau Water Ltd, the wastewater tariff structure is set by
Manukau City Council.
ENDS
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