Whakatāne council urged to go solo on water services amid partnership doubts

Whakatāne District Council is prepared to look at forming a multi-council CCO to manage water services, but whether any other councils are prepared to join it is unclear.

No other councils wanting to partner with Whakatāne District Council is among the most common reasons given by submitters for preferring the council go it alone in its three waters delivery.

The council received 84 submissions on options for its Water Service Delivery Plan from individuals and organisations.

Most submitters were opposed to the council’s preferred option to join with other councils to form a council-controlled organisation (CCO). More than 25 submitters were in favour of partnering, giving lower costs to ratepayers as the reason.

However, with Ōpōtiki and Kawerau district councils stating their preferred option is to create their own internal business units to deliver water services, this leaves Whakatāne with the Western Bay and Tauranga as potential partners.

Many submitters felt the benefits of any reduced cost to ratepayers through economies of scale would be outweighed by a loss of autonomy and reduction in local voice in such an entity.

A submission from Eastern Bay Federated Farmers recommended a “wait and see” approach. Regardless of what option the council chose, it needed to ensure that farmers did not have to pay urban prices for water and that they would not be required to contribute to wastewater and stormwater services they were not connected to.

Feedback from Te Au o Te Awa Punga – a joint iwi policy hub with partnership from Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Manawa, Ngāti Whare, Ngāti Rangitihi and the council – expressed concerns that a joint multi-council CCO could reduce the visibility and influence of mana whenua, particularly in smaller communities in the district.

“Governance models must embed iwi involvement from the outset, including in the development of Statements of Expectation and any joint oversight arrangements,” the group’s submission said.

The partnership’s iwi vehemently opposed the continued use of ocean outfalls for wastewater.

Whakatāne Action Group was also strongly opposed to a multi-council CCO, giving minimal cost benefits over the first 10 years, lower levels of local representation, the creation of another level of bureaucracy, and fears of paying for other districts’ water services as among its reasons.

“Given the situation where there is not another council who would like to engage with [the council], then the obvious choice is to proceed as we are and keep it in-house.”

A deliberations meeting is set for June 26 to consider the submissions and provide direction for the development of the Water Services Delivery Plan, which must be submitted to the Department of Internal Affairs by September 3.

- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.