Rates protester Penny Bright closer to losing house

Thursday, 18 June 2015

Mayoral hopeful Penny Bright has refused to pay rates for years in protest at council actions.

Rates protester Penny Bright may be a step closer to losing her house, after the Auckland District Court ordered a hearing into the rates case against her.

Auckland Council says Bright owes it $34,000 in unpaid rates.

The mayoral hopeful has refused to pay rates on her Kingsland home for years in protest at what she says are illegal actions by the council.

Earlier this year the council had to backtrack in court moves against Bright after it emerged it had incorrectly added legal fees into the amount it claimed Bright owed.

On Thursday the Auckland District Court ordered a fresh half-day hearing into the case.

Court action was a last resort in a rates arrears case and was only used when all other avenues of communication and collection were exhausted, the council said.

Bright's is one of six overdue rates cases the council is pursuing.

In April the owner of a section in Belmont on the North Shore narrowly avoided the property being sold to pay a $59,000 rates bill.

The section was about to go to auction when owner Marion Chiswell settled the debt.

A second case relating to a Henderson commercial site was resolved in May, the council said.

The other cases going through the court process to recover rates owed are:

$40,548.67 owed on a central Auckland apartment
$23,851.66 owed on a New Lynn commercial premises
$42,697.77 owed on a Sandringham house
$16,952.52 owed on a west Auckland premises
$10,710.26 owed on a Manurewa residence