Council footing bill not a pipe dream

Wellington City Council’s policy of charging homeowners for repairs to private water pipes underneath public roads appears to be at odds with commonsense, Local Government New Zealand says.

President Lawrence Yule, who is also Hastings District’s mayor, acknowledged there were ‘‘inconsistencies’’ in how councils across the country approached the issue.

His comments came after Wellington homeowner Warwick Eves was stung with a $9476 bill to replace a lateral pipe that collapsed several metres beyond his property boundary.

Roots from a council-owned pohutukawa tree – also beyond Eves’ Khandallah boundary – contributed to the 50-year-old pipe’s failure in October.

The city council said it was not liable to pay because the responsibility for maintaining lateral pipes – which transportsewage to the public main – lay with the homeowner. But it did offer $1000 towards Eves’ repair bill.

However, the council’s stance on lateral pipes differs from that of the Auckland, Christchurch, Hamilton, Invercargill, Porirua and Hutt city councils, as well as the Hastings and Whangarei district councils.

While some councils said they dealt with issues like this on a case-by-case basis, all said that if a pipe failed outside the homeowner’s property boundary, and it was beyond the owner’s control, they would foot the bill.

Yule said Eves’ case may prompt Wellington City Council to ‘‘re-think’’ its policy, but he added that each council had to decide for itself what the best approach was.

‘‘Looking at commonsense, I think most people would say that actually if there is a blockage or a breakage within the road reserve, that is the council’s responsibility,’’ Yule explained.

‘‘If, in fact, the tree is the council’s responsibility, why would that cost be on the landowner? Certainly, in my council’s case, if we found the blockage was in the council road reserve, we would fix it.’’

Water New Zealand chief executive John Pfahlert said that while all councils could legally force homeowners to repair private waste and stormwater pipes up to the council main, some chose to bear the cost.

‘‘It’s not something that a homeowner would expect to be given ... a bill for fixing something outside his boundary.’’

‘‘Certainly, in my council’s case, if we found the blockage was in the council road reserve, we would fix it.’’ Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule

Wellington City Council’s environment panel voted unanimously, almost a year ago, to support taking back responsibility for lateral pipe repairs beyond property lines, but the full council did not approve the policy.

City engineer Anthony Wilson said any future changes to the council’s policy would be considered as part of the council’s 2018-2028 Long-Term Plan.

‘‘Our recommendation was a change but we implement the policies of the council ... the community never wants the rates to go up and I would be a very brave man if I were to suggest they would guarantee this over all of the other priorities.’’

Newly-appointed Local Government Minister Anne Tolley refused to weigh into the debate, claiming it was an ‘‘operational matter’’ for councils.