Whanganui council ditches $50 wastewater fee for unconnected properties

The Chronicle reports on the controversy over the $50 charge earlier in May

The controversial $50 charge for NOT being connected to Whanganui's wastewater system sunk without a trace on Tuesday.

Mayor Hamish McDouall said the district council had failed to "sell" the idea of a $50 fee for rural properties which could not connect to the system.

It was a proposal which raised the hackles of many rural homeowners already paying for their own septic tank systems, and at Tuesday's annual plan deliberations councillors voted to scrap it.

The fee was originally included in the draft plan but it drew petitions and a strong response against it in public submissions, with just over half opposing the fee.

Mr McDouall said while he supported the concept of public good fees, it was right to scrap this particular charge.

"Council did not sell this well in its draft annual plan - the concept behind it got lost and it's right to ditch it," he said.

"The main issue for me is the legality of it. It is a charge for a service that literally cannot be connected to which really does push legality quite close I would've thought."

Deputy mayor Jenny Duncan agreed it wasn't sold well to the public but pointed out the urban community had picked up a lot the tab for fixing storm damage to rural road in recent years.

Rural Community Board chair David Matthews said that wasn't the same thing.

"This is something we cannot use," he said. "We cannot be connected to it - urban people can use our rural roads and do.

"I'd just like to thank everyone for wiping this one."

Councillor Josh Chandulal-Mackay was one councillor who had changed his mind on the fee.

"Initially I supported this on the basis of public good, the idea that there are many facilities in the community that we might not all use but that many benefit from."

But he said non-connected property owners had their own costs associated with wastewater.

"I don't think we can justify this cost in principle because of that."

Despite the fee being scrapped, Mr McDouall said the concept of collectivity and solidarity as a community was one he didn't want to see lost.

He was just happy the decision meant "I can travel to the rural regions of Whanganui again".