Government wants to know Kaipara District Council's Three Waters staffing and expected costs for consumers

Kaipara District Council has been asked to provide the Government information on its Three Waters staffing and expected charges for consumers.

The push towards the Three Waters change is continuing apace as the Government asks Kaipara District Council for more detailed information around sector staffing.

Kaipara District Council (KDC) general manager sustainable growth and investment Sue Davidson said the council had received a transition information pack from the Government outlining things the council was required to do under the next part of its major Three Waters changes.

Councils' stormwater, wastewater and drinking water resources are to be sliced away from councils and put into the giant inter-regional entities from July 2024.

"They want to engage with councils and look at their (Three Waters) asset management plans," she told the first KDC council meeting of the year on Wednesday.

She said the government wanted to know the council's organisational design around Three Waters, what staff it had working in the Three Waters sector and any contractual obligations they had.

They were also wanting to work through the prices they would charge individual Three Waters service users.

Davidson said the government had indicated in its restructure change prices for consumers would be cheaper than they would be if councils maintained this function.
KDC would be waiting to see how things unfolded on that count.

She said the government had previously indicated it would be coming back to councils at the end of the month on updated Three Waters proposal. That had now been indicated to be happening in "the next few weeks," Davidson said.

Cr Mark Vincent asked at which point the public would have the opportunity to have its say on the process.

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Davidson said if the government's proposed legislation went through there would be no opportunity for consultation.

Vincent said the new government entities' plan ensured the community was at least three steps removed from the people who would be running the new structures.

Kaipara Mayor Dr Jason Smith is the Northland local government leader on a government working party set up in the wake of loud council concern around including governance and representation under the new structure.

The Northland Mayoral Forum leader represents KDC and all Northland councils in that position and has been part of the working group since December.

He said the group was to have a meeting on Friday. There would be one further meeting. The group's work would then be done. Smith said there were changes to the Three Waters structure that had been suggested, but he could not outline these changes at this time.

Smith said the whole process was fascinating, made more so by them happening at lightning speed and considering the importance of values essential to the democracy which New Zealanders held to dearly.

That was particularly the case for communities' Three Waters infrastructure, for which they had paid dearly over the years.

CR Victoria del la Varis-Woodcock said communities around the motu would have no fundamental control for determining the outcomes of wastewater, stormwater and drinking water management.

She said Three Waters restructuring should be halted.

The Government is expected to ask all councils to provide the same information over the coming weeks.