Penny Bright resolves rates bill with Auckland Council, home sale withdrawn

  • 17/05/2018

Veteran protester Penny Bright will keep her house after finally resolving her rates bill.

Auckland Council had been seeking to sell her house due to unpaid rates dating back to 2007. The full bill totalled around $34,000.

Ms Bright refused to pay the rates because she thought the council needed to be more transparent about its spending.

On Thursday, Auckland Council announced it had officially resolved the rates dispute and would be staying in her home.

"Our preference was always to come to an agreement that allowed Ms Bright to stay in her home. We can now all move on and allow Ms Bright to focus on more important matters," Auckland Council group chief financial officer Matthew Walker said.

"We have advised the High Court Registrar of this outcome and he will now be withdrawing the rating sale of her Kingsland property."

Ms Bright had attempted to stop the sale through appeals several times, but had not been successful. She says the stress from the forced sale has given her stage 3 inoperable cancer.

"The massive stress I have been subjected to over the forced sale of my freehold home has gone straight to my gut," she said last week.

Newshub.