Fire levies misused:FF

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 11, Issue 499, 17 August 1993, Page 3

Fire levies misused:FF

The New Zealand Fire Service is misusing rural community fire levies to meet the cost of attending road accidents in rural areas, according to Federated Farmers president, Graham Robertson. Figures released by the Fire Service recently giving details of rural fire spending, show the cost of attending acci-

dents in rural areas is apportioned as a rural cost. Mr Robertson says there are numerous state highways iri rural areas which are open to all road users. The cost of attending accidents on those public roads should therefore be shared out equally. "For the New Zealand Fire Service to decide that because an accident happened in a

rural area the rural community should meet the cost of attendance is ludicrous," he said. 'The cost of attending accidents on state highways should be met by all road-users not just by the people who happen to live in that rural area through their fire service levy". Mr Robertson believes there are anomalies in the New Zealand

Fire Service figures which place the total rural expenditure figure of $22 million in doubt. "Fire services in rural areas are low expenditure operations as they rely on volunteer man hours and the few overheads they have, such as fire stations and equipment, have in many cases been paid for in the past by the community".