Michael Warren

Journalist

A dismayed Douglas Shire resident has expressed her frustration and disbelief after being slugged with a gigantic water bill she claims comes down to poor and archaic communication used by Douglas Shire Council.

Whyanbeel local Annette Assman was left shocked just days ago after being slugged with a $2300 water bill from Douglas Shire Council.

Ms Assman believes an undetectable leak following months of heavy rain is behind the unfair bill and she wants common sense to prevail, i.e, have her bill reduced – but according to her, Douglas Shire Council isn’t listening.

Ms Assman says an old school letter about the potential leak arrived on March 1 but as she doesn't regularly check her mailbox, she didn't notice the correspondence until March 10.

Ms Assman believes a quick phone call or email from Douglas Shire Council would have been a much more pertinent measure to alert her of the leak, and as such, find a way to quickly resolve it.

Because Ms Assman didn't see the bill until March 10 she suspects she'll also cop another hefty bill when her water use is taken the next time.

“Our property is in Whyanbeel; we had a leak, we had absolutely no way of detecting it, (as) from January 1 till March 10, we had 96 inches of rain,” Ms Assman explained to Newsport.

“Our water bill is normally $220 per quarter - this bill was $2300.

“We filled out paperwork to explain (to DSC) why it was impossible to detect the leak and how we fixed it.

“Council rejected our reasons; common sense is very rare these days.”

Newsport reached out to Council for a response about the matter.

"Council cannot comment on individual cases however, Council does mail, email or SMS alerts when high water usage is detected," a Council spokesperson told Newsport.

"Council also has a policy in place for the provision of financial assistance regarding water consumption charges where there’s proof of a concealed leak and the applicant meets the criteria for eligibility."