"If the Government can decide by decree to redefine ownership in this way, it sets a worrying precedent over ownership on a far wider basis."
Mayor Nixon has also criticised the further watering down of community input, which will particularly affect small councils.
He says while he's disappointed in the Government's initial version of the legislation, councils are committed to working to get a better model in place that works for everyone.
"Before the Government had started talking Three Waters reform our three Taranaki district councils had initiated work to see if there were benefits from us merging our water services. We completed two stages of this review before we agreed to put the work on hold due to the Government's proposal. The results of this work showed benefits of us working together in Taranaki, which we believe would be a far better model for our communities than the model the Government is forcing on us."
He urges everyone to get in touch with their local MPs to ensure they know the communities' thoughts about this plan.
"I'll be encouraging significant local participation in the select committee process."
Figures released by the Department of Internal Affairs shows the Government has spent $34 million to date on the four mega-corporation model for Three Waters reform, with more than $9m on staffing and $24m on external contractors.
The more than $1 billion mooted as part of the "no worse off" and "better off" funding package being given to councils will be funded through future water charges from the new entities.
Communities 4 Local Democracy He hapori mō te Manapori chairwoman and Manawatu District Mayor Helen Worboys says a cheaper and more effective option would have been to listen to stakeholders rather than spend millions on expensive consultants.
"While any reform of this type isn't going to be cheap, to spend $34m to come up with a flawed proposal that no one is happy with beggars belief. Flaws aside, to then mandate a reform that's overwhelmingly unpopular with communities and requires more than a billion dollars in spending to convince councils to come on board, when councils agree reform of some kind is necessary, is an astounding waste of money."
She says Communities 4 Local Democracy has used its expertise and knowledge to put together a workable framework for reform that could get broad council and community support for a fraction of what the Government has spent so far on travel alone.
"If the Government had come to councils at an early stage, and in the spirit of true partnership, this could have been a completely different story and significantly cheaper one. Why they would pay more than $1.2m to a Scottish water regulator for a model, rather than come to the people actually running the services in New Zealand, is truly baffling."
She says councils owe it to their communities to work constructively on this.
"That's why our door is always open to work with the Government on a multi-party model that works for everyone, not something that could end every time there's a change in the party in charge. Not all of the $34m is a wasted spend, we can use the knowledge gained from councils to help bring in more flexible and effective solutions. It's not too late to save this reform, we just need some real collaboration not coercion."
For more information about Communities 4 Local Democracy and its model for better reform, visit: https://www.communities4localdemocracy.co.nz/ideas
