Local govt seeks central govt help to replace ageing water infrastructure

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New Zealand's local authorities face a $100 billion-plus to replace ageing water pipes, drains and sewers and will need central government assistance to meet the bill, says Local Government New Zealand, the lobby group for the sector.

At its quarterly briefing today, LGNZ president Lawrence Yule - also a National Party candidate in the September general election - said a swathe of essential underground infrastructure installed by towns and cities in the 1960s was reaching the end of its life and would need replacement in the next few years.

Back then, such infrastructure had been co-funded by central and local government but the responsibility had moved exclusively to local government in the interim and could place a huge strain on some communities' finances, especially where populations were shrinking or ageing.

"We don't want the government to take responsibility," said Yule. "We want to take responsibility (for the so-called 'three waters') but want to make sure it's done holistically. The current funding mechanism won't work, so we are starting the conversation."

LGNZ has promoted a co-regulatory structure for water infrastructure for some time, akin to the shared way local and central government currently fund roading.

"This renewals curve is not a surprise," said LGNZ chief executive Malcolm Alexander. "Now it's here."

Among ways to fund replacement proposed by local government are the ability to earn revenue from new sources other than property rates and to use off-balance sheet 'special purpose vehicles' that would allow infrastructure projects to be debt-funded without blowing out local councils' balance sheets.

Maintaining current strong credit ratings was essential for the New Zealand local government sector, the head of the Local Government Funding Authority, Mark Butcher, said.

Yule also called for decisions "sooner rather than later" on whether or not to make users pay for their water allocations or to use a non-market, administrative method to allocate freshwater. A Technical Advisory Group is due to report on the long vexed issue in December.

"We are open to pricing water," he said. "We can't leave it in limbo."

Alexander warned the cost of upgrading and replacing existing water infrastructure would be further challenged by the addition of new environmental, water quality and infrastructure resilience standards since the original pipes were laid.

LGNZ also continued to call for a share of GST or other locally raised revenue to allow investment in infrastructure required to support the country's booming tourism industry.

Yule, who will step down at the end of the month, also announced the contenders for the LGNZ presidency at next month's annual meeting were the mayor of Dunedin, Dave Cull, and Nelson's mayor, Rachel Reese.