The Three Waters reforms would move responsibility for the management of drinking, waste and stormwater from 67 local councils to four large, specialised water management organisations. Photo / NZME
The Three Waters reforms would move responsibility for the management of drinking, waste and stormwater from 67 local councils to four large, specialised water management organisations. Photo / NZME
Taupō District Mayor David Trewavas says the council will be carefully considering the revised Three Waters proposal put forward by the Government before making any further submissions.
Last week, the government accepted 44 of the Three Waters working group's 47 recommendations for changes to its water infrastructure reform programme, with minor changes.
The reforms would move responsibility for the management of drinking, waste and stormwater from 67 local councils to four large, specialised water management organisations.
However, after months of deliberations, it confirmed councils would be given non-financial shareholding interests in the four water service entities, guaranteeing ownership - one of the key concerns raised over the Government's initial model.
This would be allocated based on population - with one share per 50,000 people, rounded up to ensure at least one share per council - and would be reassessed to account for population changes every five years.
The co-governance provisions proposed - to have mana whenua and councils given equal numbers of seats on a representation group that sets the entities' strategic direction but has no say in operational matters - would remain, with the additional option of having co-chairs.
The separate boards of the entities themselves would be appointed by the regional representation group, based on competency requirements with a ban on conflicts of interest - including a prohibition for councillors to be on the entity boards.
There will also be extra protections against privatisation that would require at least three-quarters of Parliament to agree before any sale or merger could be done.
Trewavas says the Taupō District Council had no role in the working group and was not in a position to assess or take a view on its recommendations.
"Assuming that the recommendations of the working group attempted to address similar concerns to what Taupō District Council holds, then the wide acceptance of recommendations has to be positive," he says.
"However, council will now assess the proposals as released on Friday which will come through proposed legislation, form a view, and will no doubt subsequently submit to the select committee on the bill. I am not yet sure what our joint view will be until we have all that information to enable a thorough assessment and discussion."
Taupō District Mayor David Trewavas. Photo / Supplied
Ownership of three-waters assets was one of the key elements of concern for the Taupō district communities, a concern shared by Taupō District Council.
"These assets were paid for by our ratepayers, and so we were concerned with any opportunity for them to be privatised or removed from local community ownership. We understand that this current proposal aims to address this issue," Trewavas says.
"The advice of the Taupō District Council previously supplied to government remains the same. We understand that there is a case for some change, but we have concerns around this particular model, elements within that and the process and timing of this reform programme.
"We believe that the reform process is being rushed to meet political timeframes, is out of the proper order as part of the Future of Local Government reform programme, and that it has not properly considered alternatives."
Infrastructure Minister Grant Robertson says there is an accepted need for change, and the reforms are fundamentally about delivering clean and safe drinking water at an affordable price.
"You only have to look at the number of burst pipes, boil water notices and the volume of sewage spewing into our harbours to see we can't carry on as we are," Robertson says.
"At the heart of councils' concerns have been the issues of ownership and voice ... we have listened to these concerns and modified our proposals accordingly."
Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta acknowledged there was anxiety about change, but services had been underinvested in for too long.
"We are now at a point where the case for change is well made and the policy has been robustly tested and improved. We have listened to concerns and now is time to move forward."
During the briefing, Mahuta said to all local government and iwi leaders around the motu, she wants to offer the Government's acknowledgment of their leadership in the role of custodians of water services and promoting water quality.
