Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale and Western Bay of Plenty Mayor James Denyer at a joint council meeting to discuss the future of local water services. Photo / Ayla Yeoman
Tauranga City Council and the Western Bay of Plenty District Council will establish a joint water organisation, elected members have agreed after a full day of discussions.
The 9.30am meeting of the two councils, hosted by the district council, finished at 3pm, with just a few breaks in the at-times heated debate.
A Local Water Done Well collaboration between the two councils got off to a collegial start a year ago, with their respective mayors going rowing together to encourage public input, but tensions soon grew.
Tauranga initially voted to go it alone on water, while the Western Bay passed a tight vote for a joint approach. Tauranga then U-turned and hopped back on board the joint waka.
Other points of contention came up during the due diligence process.
Today, several councillors compared the agreement to a marriage with relationship issues to sort before any agreement was made.
The multi-council-controlled organisation they settled on would be in charge of delivering water supply, wastewater and stormwater services.
The decision was driven by the Government’s Local Water Done Well reform programmes, which required councils to adopt delivery models that ensured financial sustainability.
Under the Local Government Water Services Act 2025, councils could continue delivering services in-house through a ring-fenced business unit or establish a water organisation, either alone or with other councils.
Though financial sustainability was a focus, Thursday’s debate centred more around how control and authority would be shared between the councils.
Western Bay of Plenty Deputy Mayor Margaret Murray-Benge said ratepayers needed “a service they can afford”.
“We know that in the immediate term we could probably do it on our own, but in the long term, the community will be much better off.”
Murray-Benge said this was the biggest decision a council has had to make since the 1989 local government reforms.
Tauranga Deputy Mayor Jen Scoular said creating a bigger organisation would help to become more efficient and deliver better services in the long term.
The councils would create a joint committee and terms of reference covering each council’s goals.
Councillors discussed whether they would allow the new organisation to remain open to additional councils joining in the future.
Thames-Coromandel District Council Mayor Peter Revell and deputy mayor John Grant told the meeting they were keen to join in the future.
The Tauranga and Western Bay councils agreed to remain open to other councils joining, and to explore this with Thames-Coromandel.
The new organisation would aim to go live on July 1, 2027.
The councils agreed to work with tangata whenua and recognise cross-boundary iwi relationships.
A joint statement issued after the meeting described the agreement as a “landmark” decision to join forces on water services.
The new organisation would be “governed by a competency-based board, with public ownership protections retained”, the statement said.
Western Bay Mayor James Denyer said the decision marked the culmination of a long and complex water reform journey.
“Establishing a joint water organisation gives us the best opportunity to deliver safe, resilient water services, while keeping ownership in public hands and retaining accountable decision-making.”
Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale said the joint approach reflected a shared commitment to long-term, regionally aligned water services.
“We are taking a decisive step towards resilient, future-focused services, led by a specialised board and CEO, while creating a platform for stronger regional collaboration over time.”
The statement said the councils noted “several matters” identified in due diligence required “further development” through the establishment and transition process.
Shad Rolleston, co-chairman of the tangata whenua representatives on the project’s joint working group, said it was important tangata whenua and the councils kept working together.
“We acknowledge the commitment shown by [the] councils to work in collaboration with tangata whenua and support the decision made today.”
It was later announced former Wellington City Council chief executive Kevin Lavery has been appointed establishment chief executive of the new joint water organisation, starting April 13.
Four other Bay of Plenty councils – Whakatāne, Ōpōtiki, Kawerau and Rotorua Lakes – continue to work together on options for sharing water services.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Ayla Yeoman is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based in Tauranga. She holds a Bachelor of Arts majoring in communications, politics and international relations from the University of Auckland, and has been a journalist since 2022.