Andrew Little: Wellington's Mayor on 30,000 people failing to their first Tiaki Wai water services bill

It's been revealed that 30,000 people in Wellington have not paid the first of their new water bills, and the interesting thing is the next bill is about to arrive soon. Tiakiwai, who are the lot that run the water down there now, said no one was available for an interview, so we have Wellington Mayor Auckland, uh, uh, Andrew Little rather, with us. Hello Andrew.

Hi Heather.

Any, any idea why people are not paying these bills?

Uh, yeah, some were a bit surprised to get a separate bill and are still I think understanding that. Some are finding it unaffordable, and, um, as I understand it, Tiakiwai, uh, uh, attempted to put sort of payment plans in place. Some have applied to do direct debits and put payment plans in place, and they just haven't been actioned. So, um, there's, uh, I, I was making inquiries about it today. I understand there have, have been some delays in getting direct debits and that set up, and I've said to council officers, "We've just really got to work with Tiakiwai to hurry this up."

Okay. Is there any, i- is it possible that any of these people will be told they don't have to pay the bill?

Um, I think the, uh, one of the things that has emerged is that, you know, there are some properties that, that don't have a water supply are being charged for water effectively. People have naturally disputed that and quite rightfully so. There's sorting out, um, some of those sort of details as well.

Yeah.

That, that'll be a, that'll be a small number, but most... And, and I think the other thing too that has turned up is some people have got calculations of their water charge that are just clearly disproportionate to the property they've got. So there's obviously some data problems, so that has to be work- worked out. Most of them however, there will be, you know, they'll be required to pay something.

Okay. And will debt... I- if, if there is a consistent refusal, a continuous refusal, will debt collectors be called in?

Yeah. Uh, that's what Tiakiwai has said, and they've said that, and we, we've certainly agreed with them that they shouldn't be cutting off water supply. Water's a pretty fundamental thing. But they will take steps to recover, you know, money that they consider that they're owed.

Um, I mean it, it, like this is silly. The, the, the silly thing about the situation is that people are being charged for the value of their property and not because they have water meters. Like, you guys have got to get water meters, don't you?

Yeah, and that's the, that's in the plan. But we've always had, I mean, because our water charges have been part of the rates, um, uh, for, you know, some time in memorial, um, flicking over to a whole new water entity with charging rights and all the rest of it, but without flicking o- or cha- working out the charging approach to begin with. I mean, the legislation says start with what you've got and then work your way towards a fair system.

Yeah.

So Tiaki- Tiakiwai has to do that. They got five years to do that, and that includes, you know, installing water meters. And it is, that transition is gonna take that time. So yes, it is unfair the way water's being charged for.

Mm.

It's historical, it's legacy. It is