Counting costs: Queenstown Motor Park cabin owner Karen Stuart says council fee increases amount to greed
The council’s commitment to affordable housing is being questioned after it imposed stiff fee hikes for Queenstown Motor Park cabin owners.
Queenstown Lakes District Council has decided to increase ground rentals from $3800 a year to $4200 for 2011/2012, $4700 for 2012/2013 and $5200 for 2013/2014.
Six years ago the rental was $1800 a year.
Cabin owner Karen Stuart – one of 80 owners – accuses the council of greed.
Stuart accepts the council is entitled to review the rental fees every three years but says the increase runs counter to its commitment to affordable housing in the district.
“We do provide affordable housing and I haven’t moved on my rent for a long time because I’ve got a very good tenant there.
“And most properties in the district have been devalued,” Stuart says.
Stuart points out that owners’ leases expire in only four years’ time, after which they have to remove their cabins at their own cost.
Services have also been run down, she claims.
“There’s no skip for rubbish there – there used to be – and they used to put gravel down on the roadways and now they never do.”
According to a valuation undertaken by council property contractor APL Property, rentals from this year should be $5322 per annum for Reserve Block cabin owners and $5011 for Lynch Block owners.
Councillors instead voted to raise this year’s level to $4200, based on the consumer price index.
The next two $500 rises were aimed at moving towards those valuations.
However, according to council meeting minutes, APL senior property manager Dan Egerton advises councillors that “debt collection for licence fees was currently very difficult and added that any increase would be difficult for many cabin owners to afford”.
“Mr Egerton commented that he spent approximately 100 hours a year chasing licence fees.”
The minutes also record Egerton warning of a backlash from owners to any increase.
Owners are allowed to seek arbitration if they’re unhappy.
Owners have to stump up the cost of arbitration if an arbitrator agrees with council’s valuations and split costs with council if the arbitrator disagrees.
Mayor Vanessa van Uden admits there’s “a debate between our responsibility to get the best return for our land and for the ratepayer, and affordable housing”.
Van Uden confirms that cabin owners’ licences to occupy allow for the review of ground rental fees every three years.
Council chose to impose well less than market rental at the last review, she says.
“Council has again stepped their way up towards the market rental rather than just shoving a big lump sum on them.
“A $4200 ground rental including rates is not obscenely expensive.”
Van Uden adds that the motor park skip cost a lot of money to empty and was being used as a free-for-all.
“It was replaced by recycling and waste bins so they haven’t lost service.”
Meanwhile, Stuart is seeking to contact other cabin owners to decide on a course of action.
“We’ve been treated very poorly for a long time,” she says.
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