WHANGANUI District Council's proposed $50 levy on rural property owners to go towards the cost of the wastewater system has raised the hackles of those residing beyond the city limit.
In the recent submission hearings at the council, mayor Hamish McDouall, at one stage, asked if the charge "could be
seen in light of a contribution towards a city disaster".
Unfortunately, the whole process of trying to fix the wastewater situation has been something of a disaster from the start and we're still some way from the finish line.
The current and previous councils have been given a hospital pass over the failed treatment plant on Airport Rd. Regardless of whether this proposed $50 went through or not, you would have to think that we are all going to be paying for this monumental stuff-up in one way or another for years to come.
In fact, the $50 charge was scrapped during annual plan deliberations this week. As others have pointed out, many rural folk have already forked out thousands of dollars to put in septic tanks to take care of their own waste.
