The Voter Empowerment bulletin on page 51 on 20-Aug-2010, case 4 reveals some interesting facts and tribulations about Council. In addition in Letters to the editor 27-Aug-2010, Cr M Baker responds verifying and noting that Council 'needs” the money.
What Cr Baker overlooks is the obvious, that the cost imposed by Tauranga's on it's citizens to build a home is about 'three times” the next highest in NZ, Manakau City. This can not be because Tauranga is growing the fastest as the numbers show that we are no different to elsewhere.
The 'consent fee” that must be paid include many different things so in end result the best way to compare is to look at what must be PAID each time you want a 'Consent” to build a home, this I believe is fairly represented by the bulletin and reflects a fair comparison based on actual records I have seen from numerous Councils throughout the North Island, the amounts are what you must pay each time to build a new house.
In end result the fees charged are over the top and extremely high compared to elsewhere, why is that?
Perhaps the answer resides for example in such areas as the Southern Pipeline at an estimated cost of some $130m and rising when a perfectly acceptable industry acceptable alternative exists for $26-30m. Council certainly need the money to pay for all of that!
Ian L. Stevenson, Tauranga.