May 13, 2004

No changes to water fees and charges

Trade waste and new water meter connection charges will not be increased by North Shore City Council in 2004/05, despite the fact that the cost has gone up.

The provision of water services are on a user-pays basis to cover costs, and are reviewed annually.

This year, rather than going through a special process to consult on the new charges, the council’s works and environment committee decided to stick with the status quo.

Committee chairperson, Joel Cayford, is pleased there has been no increase.

“It would have been a major consultation exercise to put people through for the sake of a very minor increase, especially when we will be doing the same thing next year as part of the annual plan process anyway,” he says.

Prices can be held at the current level despite the small, additional increase in trade waste and new water meter connection charges because of savings in other areas.

It is also proposed in North Shore City’s draft City Plan that there be no increases in water and sewerage charges, and there have been no increases since 2001/02.

Changes in fees and charges that could have increased were for the installation costs of metered connections, the service charge for uncovering meters, and trade waste charges.

Contract costs for installing a metered connection have increased by two per cent, and one of the unit costs for trade waste has increased by 7 per cent.

Trade waste is based on the cost of collection, treatment and disposal of wastewater generated by businesses.

The fees and charges will be reviewed again next year, as part of the annual plan process.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>