Mangawhai property-owners are taking legal action against Kaipara District Council over a sewerage scheme that has plunged the district into crippling debt.
The Mangawhai Ratepayers Association has applied to the High Court for a judicial review of the council's rating practices after the cost of the scheme ballooned to nearly $60 million.
The commissioners now running Kaipara want Parliament to validate past rating errors, but association chairman Bruce Rogan says the cost blowouts should be borne by former Kaipara councillors, their advisors and the banks.
Commissioners' chairman John Robertson says that is unrealistic, and High Court action will be just another cost to ratepayers.
