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Rodney Times : May 17th 2012
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HSC 039 RT 6x7 www.thehouseco.co.nz 0800 600 620 REGISTERED MASTER BUILDERS DESIGN AND BUILD SINCE 1989 From brick & tile to design & build If you're thinking of building, we have a large range of affordable options to choose from - we offer an extensive range of standard plans or full turn key designer home options. With no hidden costs, a fixed price contract and everything up front, now's a GREAT time to build. Display Homes Open 10 - 4 Daily Millwater - 8 Laura Jane Drive Silverdale Don Fox 021 933 997 Kathy Malcolm 021 062 4361 Rodney - Cnr Woodcocks Rd & SH1 Warkworth Debbie Bedford 021 453 226 Ellen McArthur 027 331 6119 www.aucklandnow.co.nz Mangawhai, Wellsford, Warkworth, Leigh, Omaha, Matakana, Snells Beach, Puhoi, Waiwera, Orewa, Whangaparaoa Peninsula, Silverdale, Helensville, Kaukapakapa, Muriwai Beach, Waimauku, Kumeu Thursday, May 17, 2012 TODAY E-EDITION ONLINE Name game Horse abuse Alex James Brown is selling his middle name to avoid more student loan debt. -- P2 Two horses, one pregnant, had graffiti and alcohol sprayed on them. Police are investigating. -- P3 Win a double pass to The Nutcracker on Ice in Auckland on July 3. Simply go to rodneytimes.co.nz, click on latest edition and check out today's Realview version of the paper online. In it you'll find extra material -- including your chance to win tickets to this internationally acclaimed show. We have some great opinion pieces and new blogs on our website. Go to rodneytimes.co.nz to read them. Money down the drain Drained: Daisy Coles, left, and Jean Chase are unimpressed with their high wastewater bills. By KERRY GALLAGHER AN 88-year-old woman and her neighbours are shocked at high wastewater bills. Daisy Coles was charged $317.07 by Watercare Ser- vices for the six months to April 19. She is on a weekly income of $348.92 and is feeling the cost. Others in the same Wark- worth street, McKinney Rd, and neighbouring Wech Drive have been charged exactly the same as Mrs Coles, while the bills seem to drop for those living a short walk away. Mrs Coles bill states her usage is at the very low end of a single per- son household. But with a similar charge six months before this one, and more than $300 of Mrs Coles rates being classified as a water rates charge, $937.49 is being asked for wastewater annually. It s just too blimmin much, she says. The charges do not include water because Mrs Coles property has its own tank supply. Neighbour Jean Chase is also confused by the $317.07 bill. She has lived in her prop- erty for eight years. She and husband Ian have their own rental car business but times are tough and bills like this are an unwelcome blow. The Chases just pay their bills without fuss but Mrs Chase says when it was pointed out how much they were paying she was sur- prised. Another superannuitant, Doreen Hogan, lives just down the road in Hexham St and pays considerably less. Her bill for the same period was $119.32 -- and that includes water and wastewater. Correspondents to Rodney Times letters pages have vastly different rates too. Jean Farr of Orewa was charged $71.55 for six months wastewater and her water bill was $55.90. Iris Hiscox of Warkworth paid $202.18 for wastewater when her water bill was $67.60. Mrs Coles is struggling to understand why hers should be so much higher. She grew up around Wark- worth and has been on her property since 1980. She had a septic tank at first and did not pay wastewater charges. That was removed in the 1980s when a drain to ser- vice her and neighbouring properties was installed. She was then charged wastewater fees as part of her rates until November 2010. It has since been a separ- ate charge. She just paid it until now. Her daughter Ann Judd was alarmed when she saw the bill and brought it to her mother s attention. Mrs Judd visited the Auckland Council Orewa service centre and was told to contact Watercare. She called WaterCare and was told they would not dis- cuss the account with any- body except Mrs Coles. Mrs Coles has hearing trouble and finds it difficult to communicate on the phone. She would also have to make a toll call from Wark- worth. But she does not like to make a fuss and would pre- fer to concentrate on gardening and baking than stress over bills. I ve got to make do, just grin and bear it. I ve done that all my life, Mrs Coles says. Watercare says the amount Aucklanders pay for wastewater services varies depending on the systems used by their former councils. Variables include the location and value of the property, the presence of a water meter, the volume of water passing through a water meter, the number of toilets and the type of wastewater system. Mayor Len Brown is pro- posing a new charging sys- tem in the council s draft long-term plan. Residential households with water meters will pay a unified tariff for wastewater services. The proposal includes a fixed component and a variable charge. All wastewater charges will be billable by Watercare and wastewater will cease to be part of the council s rates from July 1. The numbers $317.07: Daisy Coles' 6-month Watercare Services charge $348.92: Weekly income $937.49: Her wastewater bill annually
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