Three water meters were installed for Blanket Bay Rd properties early this month, a day after Andrew Noone, the ward councillor for the area, and Chalmers Community Board member Trevor Johnson were assured by council staff they would not be installed.
''I was told ... they weren't going to be installed until we had further consultation, but for some reason that message didn't filter down to the contractor who was installing the meters.
''It was a bit embarrassing really ... it was just a lack of communication between the staff and the council,'' Mr Noone said.
He said on the day they were being installed he was bringing up residents' concerns about a lack of consultation over the issue. Residents were given less than a week's notice that the council would be installing the meters, he said.
''I am pretty disappointed that they haven't been well enough informed about why it is happening and what the consequences [are].''
The council now had put plans to install about 10 more water meters in the two communities on hold.
Blanket Bay Rd resident Brent Cowie, who turned away a contractor who was about to install a meter on his property, said he felt the community had been ignored by the council.
''It's annoying that they only gave us a couple of days' notice. There was no consultation,'' he said.
Mr Noone said the council was working its way through a list of properties with reticulated water outside the water-zone boundary and installing water meters, because a bylaw required a meter be installed for properties outside the boundary.
The aim was to make sure non-residential users were charged extra if they used more water.
Most of those living outside the boundary were in rural areas. Blanket Bay and Curles Point were exceptions. Mr Noone said there would be merit in the council having another look at the policy and possibly amending it so there could be exceptions for communities like Blanket Bay and Curles Point.
At its July 10 meeting, the Chalmers Community Board voted for council to remove the three meters so ''meaningful consultation'' could be carried out.
