AN 85-year-old woman has been served court papers on behalf of Bathurst Regional Council after she refused to pay her rates until an insurance matter was settled.
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On August 12, 2016, a water main burst in Darcy Close, Windradyne, flooding a tenanted property on Suttor Street belonging to Juliana O’Connor.
The failure of council’s water main resulted in about $30,000 worth of damage to the property, later deemed “uninhabitable” for 35 days.
A letter from council, dated August 15, confirmed that staff attended, turned the water off to repair the main and removed the water-damaged carpet from Ms O’Connor’s property to dry the area out.
The letter also said council would have its insurance company carry out an assessment of the property at Ms O’Connor’s request and also investigate the cracking of the concrete driveway.
Ms O’Connor’s nephew, John O’Connor, said the letter was the last correspondence from council until the mayor called on Thursday.
Council rates for the property were due to be paid on August 31 and Mr O’Connor said council was notified the payment would not be made until the insurance claim had been settled.
Mr O’Connor said that despite calls being made to council regarding the claim, the matter had not progressed further and his aunt was now several thousand dollars out of pocket from expenses to repair the property.
But on February 16, the court papers for $1274.73 in unpaid rates, plus fees, were filed.
Mr O’Connor said his aunt has lived in Bathurst her entire life and had never missed a rate payment, until now. However, the family felt “powerless” in this situation and saw no other option.
“All we wanted was a grace period and we’ve explained ... we will adjust the rates once it is all resolved and they seem to have just passed it on to private debt collectors,” Mr O’Connor said.
“We’re not saying we’re never going to pay the rates.
“They’ve done $30,000 damage to our property, they’ve admitted it and they’ve done nothing about it and now they’re taking us to court for $1200.”
In a statement to the Western Advocate, general manager David Sherley said council had acted in accordance to its usual processes.
“Council has actively assisted Ms O’Connor following the damage to her property following a burst water main last August,” he said.
“It immediately removed and disposed of the damaged carpets from the property to ensure no further damage occurred from the water logged material and council arranged alternate accommodation for the tenants while the house was unable to be occupied.
“Council has spoken with Ms O’Connor’s representatives on a number of occasions, including again this week, to discuss the matter and has acted in accordance with its processes for handling insurance claims.”
Ms O’Connor has 28 days from being served the statement of the claim to file a defence.
Mr O’Connor said that, in addition to the damage caused by the burst water main, his aunt had to refund the tenants the $1450.05 in rent they had paid while they were unable to live at the property.
The property is now vacant until it is fully repaired.