Councils furious at water levy plan

Three of Southland's major councils are angry Environment Southland is trying to make them pay more for water.

The Environment Southland proposal would mean major users of water in the region pay resource monitoring costs, an expense that has traditionally been met by general rates.

The Southland District Council would pay an estimated $50,000 a year extra across its water supplies under the new scheme, with the Invercargill City Council forking out $112,000 and the Gore District Council $35,000.

At a district council policy review meeting on Wednesday, several councillors were against the proposal, describing it as "total nonsense" and a "knee-jerk reaction" to dairy expansion.

Some councillors called for the proposal to be scrapped.

The council's draft submission on the issue was presented to councillors and says members of Southland district water schemes could be encouraged to move to private water bores.

This could have a serious impact on small schemes as the loss of only a few members could potentially jeopardise the entire system, it says.

Councillor Brian Dillon said the council needed to take a tough stance. "I don't think we can be too soft on this, we have got to stand on this because if they start charging everyone it's going to be a horrendous cost to ratepayers," he said.

A report to an Invercargill City Council works committee meeting earlier in the week says Environment Southland intends to levy the city water supply $112,000.

The works committee members resolved to oppose the cost because it had not budgeted for it and there had been a lack of consultation.

Committee chairman Geoff Piercy said after the meeting that it already spent half a million dollars a year treating its water to bring it to a drinking standard.

"This is an an added imposition to the council. It's simply not on, as far as I am concerned."

In April, the Gore District Council also slammed the proposed water rate, with one councillor labelling the charge as "money grabbing".

However, Environment Southland chief executive Ciaran Keogh said there were many large water users who benefited greatly under the current scheme, and protecting the environment and the water supply was the council's key concern.

The whole economy in Southland was dependent on the water supply, which had come under new pressure in the past few years, he said.

"Really, we've had a pretty easy ride until the past two or three years and now the pressure's on," Mr Keogh said.

In reality the extra charges would be relatively "minuscule", with Winton, for example, rating around $2000 to $3000, which was a small amount when divided up, he said.

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