Call to lower excess water charges in city's coastal areas

A community board member wants people living in the city's coastal suburbs to have cheaper excess water rates.

Community board member for the Burwood Ward, Linda Stewart, is concerned not enough people are aware of the excess water rates that will come into effect on July 1.

"I can see a lot of people are going to be upset," she said.

Stewart said the coastal suburbs are sand-based, so people tend to use more water to irrigate their gardens.

"We water more frequently so I’m feeling a bit sorry for us over here, I wanted to see a cheaper rates struck for the coastal suburbs, any suburb that is sand-based," she said.

Stewart posted to a local Facebook group asking if people knew about the rate and included a link for residents to check how much water they use.

"The feedback was they were shocked and horrified because they’ve discovered they’re a really high user."

Head of three waters Helen Beaumont said councillors are considering whether implementation of the rate gets delayed, which will be decided at the annual plan meeting on Tuesday.

Stewart is urging residents to check their water use through the water reporter on the city council’s website and said water use will only increase over summer.

The rate was passed last year in the city council’s annual plan, in spite of the Waitai Coastal-Burwood Community Board making a submission against it.

The targeted rate will apply to any single household with a water meter that uses, on average, more than 700 litres a day, roughly equivalent to 100 toilet flushes.

"Property owners in Christchurch and Banks Peninsula will pay a fixed rate of $1.35 for every 1000 litres they use over the average limit," Beaumont said.

Households will receive an invoice for any excess water used roughly every 90 days.