No fees payable: Council
16 May 2016
Waipa District Council says there are no development fees payable on a new doggy day care business in Cambridge.
The business owner was advised of this last Friday and had it confirmed again today.
Mayor Jim Mylchreest said when staff took Council's policy and strictly applied it it suggested $97,000 was payable to council, based on daily traffic movements.
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to see that's not fair, Mylchreest said.
I'm not blaming staff because when they did the first lot of calculations based on the figures we were given, that's what came up. I discussed this personally with the owner last week and told her there was an anomaly in our policy and we'd have to fix it - it's as simple as that.
The mayor has asked for the policy to be clarified so the situation doesn't arise again.
It's unfortunate because it's caused quite a bit of stress for the business owner which could have been avoided.
He met with her last week and the issue was sorted by Friday, he said.
I've wished her and her staff well for the business. From what I can see, I think she's onto a winner and the new facility will go down well in Cambridge.
Media enquiries, contact Jeanette Tyrrell (on behalf of Council) 027 5077 599