Refuse bill for waste still unpaid

Press, 9 March 1988, Page 8

Refuse bill for waste still unpaid

SUZANNE KEEN

The Waimairi District Council is concerned that the Christchurch Metropolitan Refuse Committee is still awaiting the payment of a $300,000 bill which has been outstanding for 2% years.

In mid-1985 the Christchurch Gas Company (now Christchurch Gas, Ltd) was charged 8292,000 for dumping 18,000 tonnes of toxic waste at the Waimairi landfill site. To ensure that the coal tar waste was made safe for removal, it had to be mixed with" 10 times as much clean soil, and the company argued that it did not think it should have to) pay the commercial rate of $l6 a tonne for all the material when contractors who dumped clean fill were not charged at all. It refused to pay the bill, and the refuse committee last year decided to take the i company to court to try to recover the money. A date for the _ High Court ! hearing is' likely to be set in April. During consideration of the latest information from the Metropolitan Refuse Committee at last evening's Waimairi District Council finance and policy committee meeting, several councillors expressed concern about the length of time the matter

was taking. One reason for the delay in setting a date for the court hearing was that Christchurch Gas said the refuse committee was — claiming privilege of certain documents connected with the case, which the company did not think were privileged. Cr Gordon Freeman said that the council should ask the committee to question urgently the future proceedings of the claim to try to hurry the matter up.~ “We are talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars and the solicitors are just playing with it.” he said. The District Chairman, Mrs Margaret Murray, was pleased that it appeared some progress was being made with the court hearing. She said it was a shame the whole matter had dragged on for such a long time. "I agree with Cr Freeman that it is enormously frustrating and it makes the law look an ass,” she said. The finance and policy committee decided to

write to the Metro Refuse Committee expressing its “grave concern” that the matter had been so drawn out. | The chairman of the refuse cdmmmittee, Mr Ron i Wright, told “The Press” before the meeting that the (committee was pursuing the matter “with vigour,” and was determined to | get its money back. ( “It has been a series of delay after delay without facing up (to the reality of the situation. We are clear and confident that we are taking the right direction — it is | the ratepayers’ money, not ours.” Mr Wright said there had been] a “half-hearted, back-door” attempt at settling the matter with the gas company out of court, but it had been unsuccessful. “If had come up with a reasonably close offer of payment we would possibly have considered if. Ten per cent of the total) bill was offered at one stage, but that was laughable." | j