As Wellington Water came under pressure today for its failings, water gushed from a burst pipe on The Terrace. Photo / Mark Mitchell
As Wellington Water came under pressure today for its failings, water gushed from a burst pipe on The Terrace. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Scathing reports released today confirm Wellington ratepayers are being ripped off for unplanned pipe maintenance, paying three times more than other ratepayers.
Wellington Water’s ability to detect and prevent fraud has also been “significantly reduced” in the absence of reliable safeguards.
Chairman Nick Leggett has apologised and is considering his position amid a call for his resignation.
Two reports, which the Herald has seen summaries of, found Wellingtonians have been paying nearly three times that of comparable councils such as Hamilton and Christchurch for unplanned pipe maintenance.
It was also revealed that the company’s ability to detect and prevent fraud was significantly diminished without reliable safeguards in place.
A water advisory oversight group chaired by former Wellington Mayor Dame Kerry Prendergast is meeting at 7.30am tomorrow.
The group was established to oversee a regional approach to delivering water services under the Government’s Local Water Done Well reforms. It includes the four metropolitan councils within the Wellington region.
Prendergast confirmed they would discuss the reports and their implications for the region’s new entity.
Wellington Water chairman Nick Leggett has apologised. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Wellington City councillors and Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau will gather at 9.30am for a meeting that was previously scheduled.
It’s expected Wellington Water chairman Nick Leggett’s future will be a topic of discussion.
It’s understood a majority of Wellington City councillors think Leggett should resign.
Asked if he would resign over the situation, Leggett said he would “pause for thought”.
Leggett said he wanted people to focus on the significant reports released today and the changes being made.
“Accountability is identifying a problem, and fixing it. And that’s what we’re doing.”
Leggett has been on the board since April 2022 before being appointed interim chairman in May 2023 and then taking on the role permanently.
Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy has already publicly called for Leggett’s resignation but Porirua Mayor Anita Baker said that would be “stupid”.
Whanau said questions needed to be answered by the board and Wellington Water’s leadership about how this situation was allowed to develop over such a long period of time.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says Wellington Water is a “total basket case”. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called Wellington Water a “total basket case” when asked about the situation at his post-Cabinet press conference on Monday afternoon.
Wellington needed to focus on improving its water assets, Luxon said.
“For that to happen, it needs to adopt one of the many models that have been positioned around Local Water Done Well, put a proper governance structure in place, get proper balance sheet separation, make sure long-run assets are properly debt-funded, and actually have proper management controls around the spending.”
Local Government Minister Simon Watts said the situation was primarily a matter between Wellington Water and its shareholding councils. However, he said the reports added to existing concerns he had about water services in Wellington.
The Local Water Done Well model will increase transparency, Watts said.
“It will mean that everyone can see how water service providers spend the money they charge for their services, see what’s going well and identify and monitor areas for improvement.
“My expectation is that the issues at Wellington Water outlined in this report would not happen under the regulated utility model for water services overseen by the [Commerce] Commission.”
Watts also expected Wellington’s joint water services delivery plan to include realistic financial projections.
“Not based simply on the poor practices of Wellington Water, but on figures that are bench marked and compared against other water providers.”
Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.
