Rebecca James with the old woodburner that has been assessed as unsafe to use. Photo: RNZ/Robin Martin
South Taranaki District Council is under fire after nearly tripling the cost of consents for woodburners.
Fees have gone from $450 to $1228, leaving some residents in the cold.
Rebecca James and her partner own a colonial-era cottage in Ōpunake.
"Our house is roughly a 1910 build. We have been in the process of renovating it for the last six years since we moved up from Wellington.
"It's not the warmest home in the world - obviously a lot of it isn't double glazed.
"It's a work in progress. We've reroofed and we are in the process of recladding."
After the cottage's old woodburner was assessed as not safe to use, James secured a $2600 contribution from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority to install a new one.
She got a quote - but then, the process went up in smoke.
"We got an email saying that an extra $800 or so was going to be added on for an escalation in the consents price."
The consents hike bumped the final cost to James up to $3000, so she put the job on hold.
That meant the only heat source James and her partner had were "some really nice home-spun jumpers we got off Trade Me".
Savygas owner Narelle Wratt, who quoted for the installation, said the council's consents hike came as a surprise.
"I'd received an invoice [from the council] and noticed the price and then just went to them and said 'there must be some kind of mistake because this is three times the price' and they were like 'oh no, no the fees went up two days ago'.
"And I was like 'okay that would've been nice to know or have a bit of pre-warning about' because we build that price into our quotes."
Wratt said the consents hike was already affecting business.
"It's totally putting people off. They don't want to pay it. It's nearly the same cost as it costs to install the fire just to generate a consent, so they just can't justify it. There's definitely a downturn in business from South Taranaki."
Rebecca James outside her colonial-era cottage in Ōpunake. Photo: RNZ/Robin Martin
Further north in Stratford and New Plymouth, woodburner consents cost a little more than $400.
Wratt believed South Taranaki's fees were now the highest in the country.
The council's environmental service group manager, Liam Dagg, said this year's fees were a better reflection of the true costs of the service, without the general ratepayer having to foot some of the bill.
"In saying this, we appreciate this increase is a big jump from last year's fees and we are currently conducting a further review into how we can make our building and planning processes even more efficient, with one aim being to bring these costs down if we can."
Dagg said some other councils' charges were a base fee only, with additional costs added on for the number of inspections required.
"The way we have advertised our fees for the 2024/25 year, there are no hidden costs."
He said fees and charges were consulted on through the recent Long Term Plan process.
Of the 131 submitters who responded to the question about fees and charges increases, 79 percent supported the option - or 103 people in a district with a population of 29,600.
Broughton thought to use that as a justification for hiking charges was a joke.
"So, that's 103 people across the whole district and they didn't know what the fees and charges would be. They would not have expected an almost 300 percent increase in the consent fee for simple fire installation."
She said her business had also been adversely affected.
"The customers are obviously a little bit unhappy about the situation and there are a couple who are now reconsidering their options, given the cost impact. They're not, you know, obviously that happy. You wouldn't be happy with it if it was you, would you."
Dagg said in response to feedback, the council was tweaking the charges.
"To address some of the concerns raised, all logfire applications lodged prior to 1 July 2024 will be discounted and charged the 2023/24 logfire installation fee of $450 for a free-standing fire or $645 for an inbuilt fire. If applicants have already paid the new fee they will be refunded the difference."
But that was cold comfort for James, who got the quote for her new woodburner on 3 July.
