INVERCARGILL COUNCIL INVOICES GLADSTONE WOMAN $847 FOR STORMWATER PIPE THAT DOES NOT EXIST
Council insists the pipe is there. The ground disagrees.
A Gladstone pensioner has been invoiced $847 by Invercargill City Council for maintenance on a stormwater pipe that does not appear to exist.
Doreen Lithgow, 71, got the bill in Tuesday's post. It was tucked between a Briscoes catalogue and a rates reminder she'd already paid. The invoice cites "scheduled servicing" of a 90mm pipe running the length of her back section. Her late husband Gerald laid that section in 1983 and would have mentioned a pipe.
"There is no pipe," Doreen told The Daily Yarn, standing on the lawn in question. "My neighbour Roy brought his shovel over on Sunday. We dug three holes. Found a bit of baling twine and half a Lion Red bottle. No pipe."
Roy, 68, confirmed the dig. "Got down about a metre in two spots. Bugger all. If there's a pipe there it's been very shy about it for forty years."
An Invercargill City Council spokesperson said the invoice was issued "in line with the asset register". Ratepayers could dispute charges via a form at the Civic Building. Asked if anyone had actually seen the pipe, the spokesperson said the register was "considered authoritative" and ended the call.
Doreen has not paid the invoice. She has paid Roy $40 for the shovel and a pie, which she reckons is the more honest transaction.
Doreen Lithgow, 71, got the bill in Tuesday's post. It was tucked between a Briscoes catalogue and a rates reminder she'd already paid. The invoice cites "scheduled servicing" of a 90mm pipe running the length of her back section. Her late husband Gerald laid that section in 1983 and would have mentioned a pipe.
"There is no pipe," Doreen told The Daily Yarn, standing on the lawn in question. "My neighbour Roy brought his shovel over on Sunday. We dug three holes. Found a bit of baling twine and half a Lion Red bottle. No pipe."
Roy, 68, confirmed the dig. "Got down about a metre in two spots. Bugger all. If there's a pipe there it's been very shy about it for forty years."
An Invercargill City Council spokesperson said the invoice was issued "in line with the asset register". Ratepayers could dispute charges via a form at the Civic Building. Asked if anyone had actually seen the pipe, the spokesperson said the register was "considered authoritative" and ended the call.
Doreen has not paid the invoice. She has paid Roy $40 for the shovel and a pie, which she reckons is the more honest transaction.