CATHY ARONSON on a grassroots revolt that could decide the future of the Coromandel.
When Jill Cameron first camped at Hahei Beach in the 1940s as a 6- year-old, her family used a long-drop toilet and collected water in a can from the neighbouring farm.
This childhood paradise, with its tranquil east coast waters and white sandy beaches fringed by Coromandel bush, was one of the hardest things to leave behind when she settled in California.
The first time she returned on holiday, in 1968, she was devastated to find that her once-secret haven had been opened to development.
But she quickly learned to share her treasure with others, and last year she and her husband, Rye, sold their California airfield to retire to their bach at Hahei.
He had visions of fly fishing, and she hoped to pursue her passion for watercolour painting.
But their retirement plans went on hold within weeks when they encountered an elderly neighbour in tears because his rates were about to rise 300 per cent, lifting his yearly bill from $379 to $1442.
That meant another $20-plus of his weekly superannuation going on rates.
Half the Thames Coromandel District Council's 25,000 ratepayers are elderly, and many could not afford the rates rises proposed throughout the peninsula, whose population is growing at three times the national average.
The long drops of Mrs Cameron's youth have been replaced by reticulated sewage schemes and drinking water is supplied through pipes, but it all comes with a price tag.The council also claims costs have been driven up by a new requirement under the Local Government Act to finance asset depreciation.
But Mrs Cameron was shocked that the retired residents were expected to foot the bill and she became the mouthpiece for protests.
The council ended up spreading the costs across the region to keep the rates down, but the initial shock has spurred residents to further action.
This year, eight residents' associations, individuals and other groups, including Grey Power, banded together to form Concerned Citizens of the Coromandel.
The Four Cs, as they are known, sent a 200-page report to the Auditor-General claiming the council had breached 12 acts of Parliament by over-valuing assets.
Claims for Hahei alone included a $3000 wastewater pond cable valued by the council at $25,000, a $33,000 stormwater pond valued at $350,000 and a $250,000 PVC pipe which Hahei does not even own.
The Auditor-General's office is still investigating, but, regardless of the outcome, the Four Cs say that the 25,000 ratepayers should not have to pay for upgrades to cope with development and summer tourist influxes of 200,000 people.
Mayor Chris Lux admits that the council needs $40 million in the next 10 years to improve its 20 water and wastewater plants. He says past administrations failed to plan for development and tourism and the council has been forced to catch up.
But Mrs Cameron says most ratepayers are retired residents and absent property owners and they will not reap any rewards from tourism and development.
A 35 per cent increase in ratepayers is predicted in the next 10 years with the development of such places as Matarangi, Whitianga and the resorts at the southern end of the peninsula.
But most will be aged 45 to 64 or 65-plus.
Mr Lux said the council was developing a fairer funding policy so ratepayers did not pay for future development, and costs are spread.
"We are walking a tightrope between ratepayers, tourists and development."
But lack of planning to cater for development and tourism at Tairua and Pauanui has backfired on the council. It has halted subdivisions for up to a year until a $5.5 million sewerage upgrade is complete because the old system overloads under the peak summer population of 20,000. The permanent residents number only 3000.
The subdivision moratorium has put the council and tourism operators at loggerheads.
Tairua councillor Paul Hill leaped to the defence of ratepayers and suggested the tourism operators should have a local tax for tourists which could be paid back to the council.
But his comments stirred up an angry response from tourism operators, who pointed the finger back at the council's lack of planning.
Tourism Coromandel chief executive Jim Archibald said ratepayers with up to 20 friends staying in their holiday baches were responsible for the summer population boom, not tourists.
"How do you tax people who have every right to be there? Coromandel has many strings in its bow, which is good for sustaining the local economy ... You can't point the finger at one group."
Mr Archibald said the problem was too big for small communities and the Government should return some of the $8.6 million GST generated from the region during the three-month summer peak.
The Local Government New Zealand infrastructure strategy manager, John Hutchings, said the Government's election manifesto proposed a funding package for communities struggling to pay for their sewage infrastructure.
Once a Ministry of Health nationwide survey of water and wastewater infrastructure was complete, the health and cost benefit of assisting communities would be weighed.
But for now the Coromandel council is in a bind. It has no choice but to halt subdivision, but needs more ratepayers to pay for the scheme.
Mrs Cameron and the citizens group believe all Coromandel development should be stopped until the community and council can control the problem without exorbitant costs to ratepayers.
Shen maintains that residents are not against development but are against the council acting in crisis mode without providing a balance and consulting ratepayers
Until then, her husband's fishing gear remains in boxes buried under mountains of council paperwork, and she is still waiting to fulfil her childhood dreams of settling into retirement in her not-so-secret paradise at Hahei.
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