Waikato council forced to re-think cash ban at its Huntly office and library

Customers can no longer use cash at the Waikato District Council's Huntly office or the town's library, much to the upset of locals. Photo / File

Waikato District Council is being forced to review a ban of cash being used at its Huntly office and library.

A petition has been circulated by a local resident since the ban came into effect last month and has pressured the council into re-thinking the policy.

Last month the council upgraded its council and library buildings in Huntly and enforced a cash-free policy, so people had to pay their rates or other bills by card or online.

Waikato Huntly ward councillor Frank McInally labelled the system a "stupid bloody idea" as most elderly people used cash to pay their bills.

"A lot of elderly people don't have access to fancy computers etc to go online and pay."

He said the remodelling came about because of new health and safety legislation. The council came up with a plan to make the front counters open plan but banned people paying by cash.

"If you want to pay your rates or anything you've got to go down to the bank or down to the post shop. But [council] are looking at it, it's under review. We had a meeting a couple of weeks ago.

"They're going to have to alter things, but they're looking at legal opinion. You can't refuse cash. The only thing you can refuse is more than $20 in coins."

The matter will come back to the council's February meeting, McInally said.

He said the cashless policy was a way to protect staff in case of robbery.

"I'm yet to hear of the library getting robbed. There's always a first I suppose, times are tough."

In a statement to the Herald, Waikato District Council said the library operation and a petition from some Huntly residents was raised in a closed meeting of the council's audit and risk committee yesterday and has been referred to February's full council meeting for a decision to be made.

The library would remain cash-free in the meantime and non-cash payment options from Eftpos and credit card to online banking options were available, the statement said.

However, Huntly residents still wanting to use cash to pay their rates or dog registration fees can do so at the Post Shop and BNZ, while council refuse stickers can be purchased from nine retailers in the town.