Drastic action to get $6K from council

FRUSTRATED: Red Rock Thermal Motel owners Naomi and Jim Rees applied for a warrant to seize council property. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER 210514SP3

A Rotorua couple say it's been a "nightmare" to get the district council to pay money owing to them.

Naomi and Jim Rees, owners and directors of Red Rock Thermal Motel on Lake Rd, said "pure frustration" drove them to take drastic action to get the Rotorua District Council to front up on a legal bill of $6235 they were contractually bound to pay.

The issue was heard by the Disputes Tribunal last month, which ruled in the Rees' favour. When the council did not meet the ordered deadline last Friday to pay, the couple applied for a warrant to seize council property. However, the council said it had been considering appealing the tribunal's decision and a cheque was now on its way to the motel.

The dispute arose over a strip of the motel's land sold to the council in 2007 for the widening of Lake Rd. The 'Offer to Sell' contract, agreed by both parties, included payment for land, damage resulting from the works and legal costs. The legal bill from the Rees' lawyer arrived in November last year and was forwarded to the council.

The couple also have an ongoing issue with damage done to the motel's thermally heated swimming pool, which they say was caused by the Lake Rd roadworks.

The council told them it would pay the bill once it sorted out the swimming pool compensation, Mrs Rees said.

Council infrastructure services group manager Andrew Bell said the council had felt it was more practical to deal with the legal costs once the overall claim had been concluded.

He said the council had a $6235 cheque ready. "It will be with the motel within the next day or so. The payment was on hold while the council considered whether to appeal the tribunal's decision, for which a 28-day period is provided."

Mr Rees said it wasn't about the money but the principle. "They [council] are trying to walk over the the small businesses, they think they're God and they can do whatever they want.

"We have other businesses but if this was our only one, we would have gone under, this could have crippled us."