“Government is showing no awareness, or worse, is deliberately ignoring the permanent negative impact this will have on our ratepayers, in terms of lost income, lost asset value and lost democratic governance,” Cocurullo said.
This week’s milestone comes less than a year before the Three Waters’ top-of-New Zealand Entity A comes into force in July 2024 as the provider of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater services currently helmed by Whangārei District Council, Far North District Council, Kaipara District Council and Auckland Council.
Entity A will be New Zealand’s first of 10 water services entities to be set up.
Whangārei District Council (WDC) has appealed against the High Court’s June 2023 ruling - after it and the South Island’s Waimakariri and Timaru District Councils sought its ruling - over the meaning of the word ownership in terms of Three Waters.
“The (High) Court said it didn’t feel it was the right body to make that decision – which is why we’re now challenging this outcome at the Court of Appeal,” Cocurullo said.
This week’s bills’ passage marks the completion of Government plans that began after Hawkes Bay’s Havelock North water crisis seven years ago this month - in August 2016, but attracted heavy criticism from New Zealand councils over a wide range of concerns - not least that the Government was forcing them all to take part.
The Water Services Economic Efficiency and Consumer Protection Bill passed its committee and third reading stages on Wednesday evening. It sets up an economic regulation regime overseen by the Commerce Commission acting as a watchdog over service quality and efficiency as well as setting out mandatory information disclosures.
It passed 71-46,with the support of the Green Party, but with opposition from National, Act, and Te Pāti Māori.
The Water Services Legislation Bill also passed both stages under urgency on Wednesday morning, setting out the duties, functions and powers of the new entities.
The bill also sets up monitoring and enforcement mechanisms, and went through more than 300 changes after going before the select committee.
It passed 62-57 - with Labour the only party supporting it.
The two bills follow the passage of the Water Services Entities Amendment Act last week, which put in place changes proposed in April this year - including a shift from four massive water services entities to 10 smaller ones - at a cost to ratepayers. (Entity A has however not reduced in size in the wake of the increased number of entities).
Initial legislation setting up the transition of water services from councils - via the Water Services Entities Act - was passed in December last year. Meanwhile, the Water Services Act in October 2021 established drinking water quality regulator Taumata Arowai.
A Department of Internal Affairs Three Waters spokesperson said the department would not be commenting in response to what Cocurullo said.
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
