Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has called for a halt by the council and Watercare on Three Waters. Photo / Alex Burton
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has called for a halt by the council and Watercare on Three Waters. Photo / Alex Burton
A call by Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown for the council and Watercare to stop all work on the Government's Three Waters reforms is under consideration by the two council bodies.
Brown yesterday released a letter to Watercare chairwoman Margaret Devlin asking for a halt on the reforms and issued similar advice to council chief executive Jim Stabback.
Devlin today said a full response to the letter will be provided by the end of the week.
In a statement, the council said the discussion with the Mayor-elect on the council's work on the Three Waters Reform programme is ongoing.
Three Waters was a big issue at the local body elections. Photo / Neil Reid
In his letter to Devlin, Brown said "in more than 300 campaign events, I detected no support for it at all among Aucklanders. I promised in the election campaign to stop it."
He said the proposal has not been passed by Parliament and judged it has no chance of proceeding.
"It is therefore not in the best interests of Watercare, its shareholder, or its customers for it to spend any more money on those reforms. As Mayor, I expect that you will not be unnecessarily spending your resources on assisting or preparing for Three Waters reforms that are unlikely to happen," said Brown.
The mayor told Devlin and Stabback whatever money they might have spent on the Government-imposed water reforms should be returned to Auckland households in the form of lower water charges and rates than would otherwise be charged.
Following the local body elections, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the Government remains "open to changes" to its controversial Three Waters reforms.
While not committing to pausing or reviewing the reforms in any wholesale manner on the Government's watch, Ardern said they will be listening to what comes out of the select committee process and submissions.
The Three Waters programme will take water assets like pipes and reservoirs from 67 councils and amalgamate them into one of four massive water entities.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta are under pressure to dump the Three Waters reforms. Photo / File
has said the reforms, which are slated to start in July 2024, are set to alter the DNA of the country's local council sector by transferring the management of water services from local councils to the four water entities.
S&P said there is a large "information void" around parts of the reforms, such as what happens with stormwater assets and the financial impact for councils.
Under some hypothetical rating actions, S&P said some councils could get a rating upgrade and others a downgrade.
"The long-term effect on budgets and debt ratios is difficult to determine at this stage due to the information void," said the rating agency.
