Auckland council snares Westhaven in rates net

Chairman Ron Calwell says the Westhaven Marina Users Association will challenge the rates demands. Picture / Greg Bowker

Boaties at Westhaven Marina have been stung with rates bills of up to several hundred dollars each after the Auckland City Council pushed out the city boundaries to take in their moorings without notifying them.

"We are not happy about it because it has been snuck in behind our backs," Westhaven Marina Users Association chairman Ron Calwell said yesterday.

Last night, Bayswater Marina general manager Philip Wardale said it was the first time a council in New Zealand had imposed rates on boat owners' moorings, saying any operator would be opposed to local authorities changing the boundaries to rate boaties.

Mr Calwell, who has a mooring for his 10m yacht at Westhaven, said the association was seeking legal advice with a view to challenging the council. His own rates bill was $189. It would be far greater for large berth holders.

He said the council sought a law change last year to change its boundaries from the high tide mark to the low tide mark to better control beaches and the foreshore, and attached a clause to extend the city boundary to include the 1800 moorings at Westhaven.

Mr Calwell said many berth holders would be struggling to pay the rates.

The rates affected about half of berth holders who have paid between $50,000 and $130,000 for a 30-year licence to occupy a mooring plus an annual operating fee starting at about $1000, rising to several thousand dollars.

The fee covered the full operating costs of the marina, including maintenance, toilets, gardens, roads and existing rates on the carpark, he said.

The other 900 berth holders rented their moorings at an annual cost of between $6000 and more than $20,000, plus the operating fee. These berth holders did not have to pay rates but the council, which owned the marina, was likely to build the rates into their rent.

The council is expected to raise about $378,000 this year from rates at Westhaven.

No one from the council could be reached for comment.