Editorial: It may be different councils, but same ratepayers

Andrew Austin, Editor of Hawke's Bay Today.

The call by the Hastings District Council for residents to conserve water has certainly irritated ratepayers.

Last week the council said that record high water use meant the pumps drawing water from the aquifer into reservoirs feeding Hastings, Havelock North and Flaxmere could not keep up with demand, prompting a sprinkler ban.

Hastings mayor Lawrence Yule said there was not a shortage of water, that there was plenty of water in the aquifer, but it was simply a case of the infrastructure not coping with the demand.

Well, it has unleashed a storm of condemnation with many Hastings residents asking why they should be conserving water when it is being given away to foreign water-bottling companies.

Unfortunately, the Hastings council has missed the overall message in this cry by saying that it has nothing to do with the water-bottling consents, which is the responsibility of the Hawke's Bay Regional Council.

Of course, the council is right, but it is also oh so wrong. It may bureaucratically be a different council, but it is the same ratepayers who feel they are being cheated.

It is clear that Hawke's Bay residents feel passionately about water and believe they have a right to decide what happens to this natural resource.

I think a lot of people feel let down by the way our councils, regional and district, manage the water.

They want a co-ordinated approach to water management, with councils working together on a strategy. What is happening at present is clearly not enough and councils prosecuting other councils simply enrages them.

The fact that a large number of people have linked the conservation notice with water consents should not be dismissed as those people being uninformed.

The councils need to listen to what the public is saying.