On December 15th last year we received a letter from our local outfit claiming that the bore we have is not official, it has not been signed off and we have 28 days to rectify it.
This coming so close to Christmas is not good news and requires a level of attention that makes a mad part of the year even madder.
We purchased our house, complete with bore, a year after it had been finished so this was all news to us.
We replied, suggesting the tone of the letter was needlessly aggressive and that 28 days was potentially an issue, given Christmas and all the various stat days, as well as the fact the council wouldn't be open, and no one would be contactable.
We got a sort-of apology about the tone and was told 28 days might be a bit of an issue and to do what we could.
What we didn’t know at the time, but found out later, was there was nothing wrong with the bore or the signing off of it. What had happened was the council had lost the files and they had decided to make it our issue.
This alone was a re-enforcement of an attitude you tend to get when you are dealing with a statutory monopoly - they do and say what they want and what are you going to do about it?
Anyway, a number of phone calls later, we found what we were looking for. There was no issue with the bore, there was never any issue with the bore, it was drilled properly by people who take their job and their duties seriously and they, along with the various other water people we dealt with, were not impressed, yet again, with a council who throws their weight around.
So, after proof was gathered, photos taken and paperwork filed we were told, indeed, our bore was now legit.
Like most things councils do nothing had changed and nothing had actually happened. The bore was no more or less safe, it was just acknowledged on some piece of paper, or on some file somewhere, to the satisfaction of some bureaucracy
That was 3 months ago. Then this week we got another letter from the council.
It contained a bill for $279.
What for? For filing the documentation around our bore.
So, the file they lost, the work we did to rectify that, is now costing us close to $300 for them to patch up the mistake they made in the first place.
At no point was there recognition of the fact we were doing their work, that our work had gone unpaid and that if it wasn’t for us, none of it would have been fixed.
But the energy they put into writing to us, bullying us and forcing us to fix their issue would now cost us $279, thank you very much.
And you wonder why we hate them.
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
We replied, suggesting the tone of the letter was needlessly aggressive and that 28 days was potentially an issue, given Christmas and all the various stat days, as well as the fact the council wouldn't be open, and no one would be contactable.
We got a sort-of apology about the tone and was told 28 days might be a bit of an issue and to do what we could.
What we didn’t know at the time, but found out later, was there was nothing wrong with the bore or the signing off of it. What had happened was the council had lost the files and they had decided to make it our issue.
This alone was a re-enforcement of an attitude you tend to get when you are dealing with a statutory monopoly - they do and say what they want and what are you going to do about it?
Anyway, a number of phone calls later, we found what we were looking for. There was no issue with the bore, there was never any issue with the bore, it was drilled properly by people who take their job and their duties seriously and they, along with the various other water people we dealt with, were not impressed, yet again, with a council who throws their weight around.
So, after proof was gathered, photos taken and paperwork filed we were told, indeed, our bore was now legit.
Like most things councils do nothing had changed and nothing had actually happened. The bore was no more or less safe, it was just acknowledged on some piece of paper, or on some file somewhere, to the satisfaction of some bureaucracy
That was 3 months ago. Then this week we got another letter from the council.
It contained a bill for $279.
What for? For filing the documentation around our bore.
So, the file they lost, the work we did to rectify that, is now costing us close to $300 for them to patch up the mistake they made in the first place.
At no point was there recognition of the fact we were doing their work, that our work had gone unpaid and that if it wasn’t for us, none of it would have been fixed.
But the energy they put into writing to us, bullying us and forcing us to fix their issue would now cost us $279, thank you very much.
And you wonder why we hate them.
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
6 comments:
I really hope you refused to pay their bill and told them to take a hike!
And on a larger scale Maori have decided to fix NZ at ever6one eyes cost when there was nothing particularly wrong except for the lazy. This is all very much part of the embedded NZ culture.
Next minute you will be getting a letter from them saying that the bore is of significance to local iwi. Nothing would be a surprise.
Under Labour's Three Waters plan, even though you paid for that bore, and are responsible for maintaining it, it's not yours.
Control of it would have passed to the local iwi, hapu, and hangers on, and you would have paid them for your own water.
Incredibly, there are still Labour supporters that think that is fair.
Putting up a wind turbine to supply your rural property ?
Watch out if Debbie Ngarewa-Packer ever gets her way, as she claims that Maori own the wind !
It must be only time before we hear that Maori own the sunshine !
Because of this sort of thing private persons are more or less forced into expensive employment of specialists adding enormoulsy to costs. If the corrspondence was in your name it is surprisng noone recognised it and exercised restraint.
They never learn do they?
Same thing here in Whangarei on a larger scale
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/whangarei-district-council-ordered-to-pay-man-43-million-over-negligence-in-closing-his-quarry/5CLGWB4DGTQ7KBYIMV6XCPI42A/
Wonder no more, Councils
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