About 1oo Whaanga Coast Ratepayers and residents packed the Raglan Surf Life Saving Club on Saturday 16th at 11.30am to learn about the Waikato District Council’s proposal for fixing the waste water problems along the coastal area. They learned that the new scheme could see their rates bill jump by about $4,500 a year to cover the cost of installing pipes and pumps and the annual cost for being connected to the Raglan Waste Water Treatment plant. Residents were told they would have options of either paying $19,348 upfront or paying this amount off over 10 years plus interest with total annual charges starting at $4,515 incl GST a year and decreasing to a tenth year charge of $2,735. The scheme known as a low pressure waste water scheme would only have enough capacity for 120 properties in the Living Zone. It would have capacity for another 110 dwellings on iwi land. People at the meeting questioned about who would pay for over runs on the project cost. e.g. The cost per property has already increased from the $19,720 in the April Council report to the $22,250 incl GST in the handout pack that residents were given on Saturday. Council staff said that WDC would absorb any cost overruns.
Many people at the meeting said that they weren’t wealthy and could not afford the charges. They had moved to the coastal area to retire and were pensioners on fixed incomes. One Earles Place resident said that they would be forced to sell their property and move to Hamilton if the scheme went ahead.
Residents asked if a Government subsidy was possible. Council staff told them that the Ministry of Health had said that this area did not qualify for a scheme due to the high land values.
Fred Lichtwark from Whaingaroa Harbourcare said that the sewage would go into the Raglan Wastewater Plant which had a consent to discharge untreated effluent into the harbour on 20 days a year. Fred asked is there still a health problem as many properties had now put in their own high-tech systems. In a shown of hands about 90% of those present asked WDC to check all properties and see how many were now causing a problem.
Bernie Brown asked if WDC accepted any responsibility for allowing the subdivision that had caused the problem. Council staff said that the only source of money was general rates and targeted rates and that is was unlikely that people in Tamahere or on a rural Waikato farm would want to pay for a waste water scheme for the Waanga Coast area.
Many people at the meeting said that what was needed was a complete proposal for Raglan West. They pointed out that the present proposal didn’t cover known problems areas such as Riria Kereopa Memorial Drive. Bernie Brown suggested that a Raglan West Structure Plan was needed covering the whole area including subdivisions and services to handle them. Another person said, “It is a small plan – it isn’t going to work. There is continual pressure from non-residents with large numbers in excess of planning rules already staying overnight on many properties. Everybody who stays longer than 2 hours levaes something behind. It is a small system for a big problem, It won’t work.”
A ten strong team from the Waikato District Council led by Raglan Councillor, Clint Baddeley were at the meeting along with Deputy Mayor Dynes Fulton, Water & Facilities Chair Alan Morse and several Council staff. Council staff appeared to have difficulty in answering questions about how many properties were in the coastal area outside the Living Zone and what would happen financially when new properties joined the scheme later. It was also unclear if already subdivided properties but with one current dwelling would be paying one fee or a fee for several properties. The meeting was repeated in the afternoon.