Hundreds of homes face water cutbacks as council gets heavy

More than one in six Far North properties on metered water supplies are behind with their water bills, and the biggest debt is a whopping $35,000.

The Far North District Council is about to reintroduce a policy of reducing water flow to metered properties that are well behind with payments.

Bad debtors owe the council nearly $1.3 million for water, and the council hopes the policy will inconvenience them enough to pay their bills.

But health professionals around New Zealand are becoming increasingly concerned about the plan, with Northland Medical Officer of Health Jonathan Jarman and the Public Heath Association fearing it could increase health dangers in the district.

The Health Ministry has also weighed into the debate, saying it will act if there is any evidence that insanitary conditions are being created by the restrictions.

Council spokesman Rick McCall said since publicity about the policy first aired, about $150,000 of that bad debt had been repaid, or arrangements made to repay it, and the council was negotiating with people to pay more.

Mr McCall said that, on average, 1500 of the 9000 Far North properties on metered water were in debt - 16.6 per cent of metered homes.

He said about 650 households were in danger of having the restrictions imposed.

The debts averaged $400 a property, but the largest single bad debtor owed $35,000.

Privacy prevented the council saying who the bad debtor was, but Mr McCall said it was on a block of land in multiple ownership with several residences. The debt was for several years worth of water supplied to the block.

"We have been negotiating with the owners for a while but have not been able to make progress," he said.

The council was pursuing the get-tough policy, despite the objections of health officials.

Council general manager Clive Manley said health standards dictated that people receive a minimum of 90 litres of water a day, and households with the restrictions would get at least 120 litres a day.

"We share the concerns and would never create an insanitary situation," Mr Manley said.

Metered water in the Far North is among the most expensive in New Zealand, with a cubic metre of water costing $2.31, compared with $1.42 in Whangarei, $1.48 in Waitakere, $1.17 in Auckland (Metrowater) and $1.06 in Manukau.

That means the block that owes $35,000 has not paid for up to 15,151 cubic metres of water, or 15,151,000 litres - more than enough to fill the 50m outdoor Olympic pool at the Whangarei Aquatic Centre.

- NZPA