McDouall said the status of Te Awa Tupua as a tūpuna and taonga for Whanganui hapū and iwi is recognised and protected by law. Photo / Bevan Conley
McDouall said the status of Te Awa Tupua as a tūpuna and taonga for Whanganui hapū and iwi is recognised and protected by law. Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui District Council has asked for the Whanganui River to be explicitly recognised in Three Waters legislation, saying the important status of Te Awa Tupua must be upheld.
Mayor Hamish McDouall told the Parliamentary select committee hearing on the controversial Water Services Entities Bill that the government's water reform package should pay stronger attention to Te Awa Tupua legislation.
McDouall said the status of Te Awa Tupua as a tūpuna and taonga for Whanganui hapū and iwi is recognised and protected by the Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act of 2017.
"The council supports the inclusion of a requirement to give effect to Treaty settlement obligations but asks that specific reference is made and indeed that the Te Awa Tupua legislation, the Act of 2017, is upheld in all transactions between the Crown and Whanganui district," McDouall said.
On co-governance, however, the council expressed misgivings about the arrangements laid out by the government for the new entities.
In a written submission to the Finance and Expenditure select committee, the council said it supports in principle the concept of co-governance arrangements.
"However, council is concerned that the experimentation with co-governance on such a large scale has the potential to damage public acceptance of the concept if the water services reforms are not executed successfully.
"Council is concerned that the convoluted nature of the governance arrangements will be inefficient to operate and will serve neither iwi nor territorial authorities."
The Bill is part of the reform of Three Waters services and provides for the setting up of four publicly owned water services entities to manage drinking, waste and stormwater services currently managed by 67 local authorities throughout the country.
McDouall made it clear the council opposes the compulsory amalgamation of territorial authorities' water services.
Council chief executive David Langford said the proposal for water service entities to fund half of the Better Off sweetener would be the equivalent of a 2 percent rates increase. Photo / Bevan Conley
"We are disappointed that those authorities that have managed their water services assets well – including us – including making prudent long-term investment decisions, are being disadvantaged by inclusion with those that will require cross-subsidisation to bring their services up to standard."
He said the council could see "that moral hazard" throughout the legislation.
"The shareholding is based on population not prior investment; the Better Off funding is based on population, deprivation and land area. And while we approve of deprivation being a focus, perhaps the quality of the associated water assets and services being transferred could be a better structure."
McDouall said the council was also concerned that, as part of entity B, local voice would be diminished and local aspirations would not be prioritised when having to compete with identified growth councils like Tauranga and Hamilton.
Chief executive David Langford told the select committee that the proposal for water service entities to fund half of the Better Off sweetener would be the equivalent of a 2 percent rates increase charged through water service entity fees.
"It effectively becomes a rate by stealth and a burden on those entities, billed to the customers rather than coming from taxation."
In its written submission, the council said funding criteria was a concern.
Mayor Hamish McDouall told the Parliamentary select committee the government's water reform package should pay stronger attention to Te Awa Tupua legislation. Photo / Bevan Conley
"In an environment of inflationary pressures, supply chain disruptions and a construction sector struggling with skills and capacity shortfalls as well as mental health and suicide challenges, it is particularly short-sighted of the government to expect territorial authorities across the country to accelerate and/or add new projects to their work programme with the Better Off funding."
The Better Off funding should be fully funded by central government with local communities having absolute discretion on how to use the money for the betterment of their communities, the council said.
Langford said there was concern about the inclusion of stormwater and how it would be unpicked from roading, parks and reserves activities. The council recommends excluding stormwater from Three Waters reform and leaving it with councils.
Asked by select committee member Simon Watts why Whanganui was so strongly opposed to compulsory amalgamation, McDouall listed potential lack of attention to Te Awa Tupua legislation, and ratepayer concerns that locals would not be able to get repairs done or have issues fixed in a timely manner.
Langford added amalgamation would also be an issue because of the investment the city made to bring its wastewater treatment plant up to standard.
"The council sold non-Three Waters community assets – forestry, tens of millions of dollars of sales of assets, in order to repay that debt and keep our water services affordable."
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
