"This could well save us money in the long run, I don't want to be looking back in hindsight, and be asking why did we not do it when we had the chance."
She said a different approach was needed to restore the community's confidence in its drinking water, especially given the past history of problems in the area - warnings of its compromised situation.
"To protect and secure us fresh, safe drinking water we must change from the leadership that has destroyed it. This takes fresh thinking, ideas and vision to get us there, focusing on what is best for the future of Hastings and Havelock North.
"We have been failed on so many levels. The report speaks for itself. Despite warning after warning, nothing was done to protect us from this disaster. I will not ignore this.
"We lost our fundamental right to safe drinking water - it doesn't get more basic than that."
Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule said moves were already under way to find alternatives to the Brookvale bores.
He said Bore 1 had already been decommissioned and that the same was about to happen with Bore 2.
The water treatment, including UV, filtration and chlorine that had been put in place at Bore 3, currently being used to supply Havelock North was usable.
"We are now exploring other options for water and we have $5 million in the budget for that, which we are consulting on at the moment," Mr Yule said.
He said that Bore 3 was likely to be a temporary measure while looking for other sources, one of which had been identified already at Whakatu.
He added that it was unknown until the investigations following the gastro outbreak that the Te Mata aquifer was unconfined.