Dunedin city councillors appear to have had a change of heart with regard to charging consent fees for solar hot water heaters, with a last-minute about-turn meaning the fees could be dropped permanently.
The change is a success for Cr Fliss Butcher, after she initially failed to convince her peers at a planning and environment committee meeting in January a one-year trial waiving building consent fees for installing the systems should be made permanent.
A report to the January meeting from chief building control officer Neil McLeod said 43 property owners had benefited from the scheme, but the result was a loss of revenue of $25,562, and meant ratepayers were paying for other people's building work.
Cr Butcher told a full council meeting on Monday she had further information on how other councils dealt with the issue, which showed 13 councils, including the Dunedin council, either waived the fees or reduced the amount charged.
Others were investigating the idea.
"It is actually encouraging people to take up the opportunity to install solar hot water systems."
The consent fees were enough to put people off moving to an environmentally sustainable way of heating water.
She disputed the idea the council was losing revenue, as the consent work was already being done by staff.
If the building control unit really needed the $25,000, it could be paid from economic development budgets or the council's waste levy fund, she said.
"There is money there.
"This is about economic development; growing sustainable industry."
Waiving the fee was "a baby step", but worth doing, she said.
Other councillors agreed.
Cr Colin Weatherall said the initiative would be similar to a business incubator.
"Let's get it up and get it running."
However, Cr Michael Guest disagreed.
Staff would be required to inspect the systems, he said, and the Government should have role in providing any subsidies.
Ratepayers should not have to subsidise other ratepayers, and there was other environmentally sustainable building work for which people might want fees waived, such as double glazing.
"Where does it end?" he asked.
The council voted for the matter to go back to the planning and environment committee, of which Cr Guest is chairman, for further consideration.
Cr Butcher said after the meeting she was pleased with the outcome, and she hoped people in the industry would make their views known.
