Railbikes rates row continues

The stretch of rail line corridor that Railbike Adventures says it is being charged nearly $30,000for in rates, by Wairoa District Council. The amount is set to increase to more than $40,000 next year. Picture supplied

The opening of a new railbikes tourist attraction at Māhia remains in doubt as the operator is embroiled in a heated rates row with Wairoa District Council.

Railbike Adventures managing director Geoff Main says he met with KiwiRail lease managers at their Auckland office last Tuesday which included a conference call with Wairoa District Council chief financial officer Gary Borg, senior rates officer David Doole and Jason Hockley of Quotable Value NZ.

“The sole intention of this meeting was to explore any avenue of a rate reassessment, reduction or rebate with consideration of the fact that Railbike Adventures are being rated at commercial value for an inaccessible and unusable area of land attached to the lease,” Mr Main said. “The area of land within the rail corridor — what we are being rated for — is vastly disproportionate to the area of land that we are permitted and actually use within the terms of our lease.”

His rates demand from Wairoa District Council was $29,249.41 which was to be increased to $40,765.41 in June, he said.

“Railbike Adventures uses a five-metre-wide strip on which the rail sits for a distance of 22 kilometres, which totals 11 hectares in land area.

“Wairoa District Council have struck rates for the full corridor area of 124.459 hectares at commercial rates. The commercial rate is around three times as much as general farming pastoral rates.”

Mr Main provided a photograph which he said “depicts the typical rail corridor we use, and the nature of the land either side of the track”.

“The steep bush, scrub wasteland nature of the adjacent land is what we are being charged for by the Wairoa District Council as ‘best use commercial’ — a value supplied to Wairoa District Council by Quotable Value NZ.

“At the meeting, Wairoa District Council representatives refused to recognise any justification in the anomaly of land use and/or usability of the land, and are steadfast in their resolve to charge Railbike Adventures general commercial rates unless otherwise advised.

“Railbike Adventures draws a comparison with the Gisborne District Council who do not strike rates on the rail corridor within its jurisdiction being used jointly by Gisborne city Vintage Railway and Railbike Adventures.

“Railbike Adventures have provided full financial reports for the last three years to KiwiRail, Wairoa District Council and Quotable Value NZ to back up the impact that the extortionate rate demands will have on the survival of the business

“As a start-up tourist attraction for the Wairoa region, we are hugely disappointed with the Wairoa district councillors’ stance. It suggests that if you are thinking about Wairoa to set up . . . keep driving.”

Wairoa District Council and KiwiRail have a different view of the situation surrounding the rates row with Railbike Adventures.

“I had a positive meeting with Geoff Main of Railbike Adventures and encouraged him to work with KiwiRail around the details of the rates component of his lease arrangement,” Wairoa Mayor Craig Little said.

“Wairoa District Council supports Geoff and his Railbike Adventures Enterprise. However, the Council must work within the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002, which states that once a Crown entity leases its land for other purposes, that land becomes rateable.

“Wairoa District Council has applied the same rating legislation as it would for any other business leasing railway land as per the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002.

“Rates are a form of taxation and a requirement of landowners, users and businesses. Rates fund a wide range of essential services and infrastructure that the Wairoa District Council provides to the community. They are used to fund local services such as rubbish collection, public reserves and toilets, and other communal facilities that will benefit Railbike Adventures and other rate-paying businesses.”

A spokesman for KiwiRail said the rates levied by Wairoa District Council were recoverable as part of the lease agreement that is in place.

“KiwiRail is working with Railbike Adventures to achieve a workable solution, but cannot comment further at this stage.”