Dunedin man Richard Wilson can't figure out why he should pay to fix a pipe under a public road, blocked by a tree root coming from Dunedin City Council land.
Mr Wilson has been locked in a dispute with the council over the offending root for almost a year, after finding a pipe connecting his Baker St home to the council's sewer was blocked.
Investigations by a plumber had revealed it was clogged by tree roots from one of two trees on council land next to his property.
The blockage was outside his property boundary, under the street where his pipe met the council's sewer, he said.
He blamed the rising water table in South Dunedin for encouraging tree roots to ''go wild'' and invade pipes in the area.
''They're making the terracotta pipes damp, and of course it's promoting the roots towards the pipes. They just go straight in.''
Despite that, the council said it was his problem to fix, which Mr Wilson had done, leaving him with a $2400 bill.
Now he wanted the council to reimburse him for the work he had paid for, and was threatening to withhold his rates if they did not.
Council financial controller Gavin Logie said yesterday the threat could result in Mr Wilson's rates arrears being added to his mortgage, if the council took up the option of charging the bill to his bank.
However, Mr Wilson said his stance was ''a bit of a moral thing''.
''It would be different if it was my tree,'' he told the Otago Daily Times yesterday.
''You pay your rates ... for this sort of thing.''
Council reserves and recreation planning team leader Richard Saunders said Mr Wilson had contacted the council late last year.
The correspondence ceased after the the council's initial assessment concluded the earthenware pipe's poor condition was to blame, Mr Saunders said.
Cracks in the pipes allowed moisture in, which then attracted tree roots, he said.
However, the initial finding was open to further review if more information was presented, he said.
The council could remove offending trees, or help with pipe repair costs and reimbursements, if found to be at fault, he said.
One tree in the area had already been removed, but that was because it had died, not because of Mr Wilson's complaint, he said.
Council water and waste group manager Laura McElhone said the responsibility of homeowners for ''lateral'' pipes, connecting homes to the council's sewer, had been in place since ''time immemorial''.
The approach was ''very common'' in New Zealand and overseas, but was being reviewed in Dunedin, she confirmed.
That was for practical purposes, as efforts to renew the council's wastewater network, to stop water getting in, were being hampered by older earthenware lateral pipes, she said.
''What's the point in renewing the main sewer down the road, when more water is coming in off all these private laterals?''We are certainly looking at the options around taking ownership up to the private boundary.''
