By Anna Burns-Francis
The Dunedin City Council has backtracked on a plan to charge volunteer fundraisers $16 to put on a sausage sizzle.
The change of heart is a relief to all of the city's fund-raising food stall operators, especially schools.
Green Island School principal Steve Hayward says the first 40 or 50 sausages sold would have to go towards paying the fee, taking funds away from school fundraising projects.
“It seems a bit bizarre to me, it's just the compliance police giving us another thing to worry about,” he says.
The idea wasn’t popular with city councillors either – Councillor Colin Weatherall said the balance needed to be right between covering council administration costs, and allowing people to fundraise for community activities.
After hearing the councillors’ concerns, there was an abrupt change of heart; late this morning the department released an urgent review of the fees report, making it clear that fundraising food stalls won’t be charged.
Mr Hayward says he’s pleased to see “common sense prevails”.
“Right from the start this seemed really bizarre… we need them helping us to raise more money for our kids.”
3 News