Selwyn_Times: July 26, 2023
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Wednesday <strong>July</strong> <strong>26</strong> <strong>2023</strong> <strong>Selwyn</strong> <strong>Times</strong><br />
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
Lifestyle block owners want<br />
refund for rates increase<br />
• By Susan Sandys<br />
EIGHT PREBBLETON lifestyle<br />
block owners had skyrocketing<br />
rates when their land was<br />
included as part of the proposed<br />
PC79.<br />
Now some plan to seek a refund<br />
from the district council if<br />
the local body adopts the PC79<br />
hearing Commissioner’s recommendation<br />
and declines the plan<br />
change.<br />
The rates of the landholders<br />
increased following the value<br />
of their land rising sharply in<br />
the September 1, 2021 Quotable<br />
Value three-yearly revaluations<br />
for <strong>Selwyn</strong> district, due to being<br />
in the PC79 area.<br />
For example, the largest property’s<br />
land value climbed from<br />
$1.2 million to $9.05m, anotherfrom<br />
$580,000 to $3.14 million,<br />
and another from $275,000 to<br />
$700,000.<br />
Quotable Value said at the<br />
time it must look at proposed<br />
plan changes and how the market<br />
is responding to those.<br />
Tom Fraser said his rates for<br />
the last rating year had been 53<br />
per cent higher than the previous<br />
year, while John Sheaf said<br />
his had been 22 per cent higher.<br />
Fraser said he would be asking<br />
the district council to refund<br />
the thousands of dollars extra<br />
he had paid in rates, as well as<br />
interest.<br />
“It (rates refund) is not a massive<br />
sum, it’s more the principle<br />
of the thing,” he said.<br />
Sheaf said he believed the<br />
district council should offer a<br />
refund on the higher rates paid.<br />
Another of the PC79 landowners,<br />
who supports the plan<br />
change and did not want to be<br />
named, said he also believed the<br />
district council should refund<br />
the excess rates if the plan<br />
change did not go ahead.<br />
“We will be trying to do<br />
that collectively with the<br />
other land owners. We will<br />
definitely be talking about<br />
the rates, because we have<br />
been rated now as though<br />
it’s rezoned land.”<br />
District council group<br />
manager enabling services<br />
Kelvin Mason did not directly<br />
Kelvin<br />
Mason<br />
PC79: The<br />
subdivision<br />
is planned<br />
for this land<br />
on Birchs<br />
Rd, to the far<br />
side of the<br />
high voltage<br />
transmission<br />
lines.<br />
answer a question from the<br />
<strong>Selwyn</strong> <strong>Times</strong> as to whether the<br />
district council would refund<br />
the landowners.<br />
He said the district<br />
council would not be<br />
considering any queries<br />
around valuation of the<br />
land until a decision on<br />
the rezoning had been<br />
made and notified.<br />
“But we are discussing<br />
the issue with our valuers<br />
on what the effect of the various<br />
decisions might be,” Mason said.<br />
NEWS 5<br />
No support<br />
for extending<br />
earthquake<br />
building fixes<br />
• By Daniel Alvey<br />
THE DISTRICT council won’t<br />
support a bid to have more time<br />
allocated to fix earthquake-prone<br />
buildings.<br />
It was the only one of 17 Local<br />
Government New Zealand remits<br />
the district council did not support.<br />
The remits were submitted<br />
by councils to help provide direction<br />
for LGNZ policy.<br />
In last week’s council meeting,<br />
councillors voted against the<br />
remit from Manawatū District<br />
Council: “That LGNZ investigate<br />
and report to members on ways<br />
to help councils and communities<br />
that are struggling with the timeframes<br />
in the earthquake prone<br />
building sections of the Building<br />
Act and council policies pertaining<br />
to priority thoroughfares.”<br />
Said Mayor Sam Broughton:<br />
“What we have seen is that<br />
through the Canterbury earthquakes<br />
buildings kill people.<br />
“Delays in some of these<br />
timeframes might be helpful for a<br />
council, but I’m not sure they’d be<br />
great for a community.”<br />
LGNZ will vote on the remits<br />
today at its annual meeting in<br />
Christchurch.<br />
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