Reform could cost country $185 billion 

Waipa still waits for more information on reform.

New Zealand may need up to four water entities investing as much as $185 billion into water infrastructure over the next 30 years.

The Department of Internal Affairs last week published four evidence-based reports, commissioned by the Three Waters Steering Committee, building a case for changing the provision of three waters.

The Government launched the Three Waters Reform Programme – a three-year programme to reform local government drinking water, wastewater and stormwater service delivery arrangements, 12 months ago.

It aims to substantially change the way water is managed – at present 67 different councils own and operate the majority the three water services across the country.

Waipā has committed to be part of the reform in good faith but is not bound to it. In August 2020 it signed up to the Three Waters Services Reform through a Memorandum of Understanding with the Crown.

As a result, it opened up significant funding for water infrastructure.

The reform would see the projects paid for by councils being handed over to the Government to be managed.

The latest report provides detailed evidence, at a national scale, of the challenges communities face under the current three waters arrangements, and the opportunities that result from providing these services in a different way.

It says the scale of the infrastructure investment needed across the country is a much larger than initially thought.

This would come at a significant cost to communities, raising concerns around affordability for, particularly for smaller rural communities.

The report says New Zealand has an opportunity to achieve efficiencies of around 45 per cent through reform over a 30-year period.

Waipā Mayor Jim Mylchreest said the reports did not provide detail around local implications but did contain some regional analysis of economic impacts.

“Until our Council receives all of the relevant information, which won’t be for a few more weeks yet, we’re not in a position to say whether or not an alternative future model for delivering water services is appropriate for Waipā,” he said.

Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta is expected to announce Cabinet decisions on what the Government intends to do with the advice in the coming months.

For more details on the Three Waters Reform Programme go to www.dia.govt.nz/Three-Waters-Reform-Programme.

More Recent News

Libraries – ‘more than books’

The man helping take Waipā District Libraries’ public services into the age of technology has been nuts about computers since he was about four. Now in his late 20s, Joe Poultney is a self-confessed techno-nerd…

Fears over waste plan

The proposal to build a waste to energy plant in Te Awamutu is the antithesis of all the district stands for, says Waipā mayor Susan O’Regan. O’Regan appeared before an independent Board of Inquiry in…

Five councils take the plunge

Ōtorohanga District Council led the way last week as the first of five councils to decide to hand its drinking and waste water over to a council-controlled water authority. Ōtorohanga councillors voted to join stage…

Brilliant bare necessities

The deft hands of a veterinary surgeon and scientist are the same hands that have crafted the brilliant costumes for the upcoming St Peter’s Catholic School production of The Jungle Book. The three performances in…