Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Public meeting wrestles with water account deficit

By John Cousins
Bay of Plenty Times·
28 Mar, 2012 06:31 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

One of the architects of universal water metering in Tauranga, former city councillor Mary Dillon, says it may not be necessary to increase tariffs to recover the $3 million deficit in the water account.

Mrs Dillon, who chaired a public meeting this week on the issue, was confident that some of the deficit would eventually be collected because of the cycle of wet and dry summers. She intends to ask the council to recover the deficit over a longer period than the three-year option proposed in the draft plan for 2012-22. Mrs Dillon was keen to see the depreciation component of the deficit funded from the fixed water charge and not the tariff through the meter.

Tuesday night's meeting at the Omanu Surf Club was organised by Colleen Gourlay, who intends to hold a daytime meeting for those unable to get out in the evening. She invited Mrs Dillon to chair Tuesday's meeting which was attended by 10 people. Mrs Dillon said the meeting was small enough to allow the people who attended to go over a few things together.

Part of the reason for the $3 million deficit was the series of wet summers in which not enough revenue was gathered through the meter to meet costs. Mrs Dillon's attitude was that the overs and unders of the cycle of dry and wet summers would collect enough revenue without increasing meter charges.

Mrs Gourlay said people went away feeling happier and more informed about making submissions to the council's 10-year plan.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We need to get people to be less apathetic about local government because if you do nothing it gives them [the council] a licence to do what they want."

The council's option to double the fixed charge to $52 and add 11c a cubic metre to the tariff led to a community outcry.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

Baywide rugby: Whaka look to break 19-year drought

Bay of Plenty Times

Netball: Magic narrowly lose to Pulse after scores still tied in final minutes

Bay of Plenty Times

Revealed: ‘Major milestone’ for education system announced by Government 


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Baywide rugby: Whaka look to break 19-year drought
Bay of Plenty Times

Baywide rugby: Whaka look to break 19-year drought

Whakarewarewa beat Greerton Marist 25-17 to reach the Baywide final.

14 Jul 05:17 AM
Netball: Magic narrowly lose to Pulse after scores still tied in final minutes
Bay of Plenty Times

Netball: Magic narrowly lose to Pulse after scores still tied in final minutes

14 Jul 04:28 AM
Revealed: ‘Major milestone’ for education system announced by Government 
Bay of Plenty Times

Revealed: ‘Major milestone’ for education system announced by Government 

14 Jul 04:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP