Northland councils vote to create single company to manage drinking, wastewater systems

Far North district councillors debate joining a Northland-wide council-controlled company responsible for all drinking water and wastewater services. Photo / RNZ, Peter de Graaf

By Peter de Graaf of RNZ

All three of Northland’s district councils have voted to create a single, Northland-wide company to manage the region’s drinking water and wastewater systems.

The Far North District Council was the last to sign up to the plan, part of the Government’s Local Water Done Well programme, during a meeting in Kaikohe on Thursday.

Whangārei District Council voted to join earlier in the day, and Kaipara District Council signed up on Wednesday.

Under the joint water services delivery plan, the three councils have until June next year to create a company to manage all their drinking water and wastewater services.

The councils opted not to include stormwater services, which will remain under local council control.

While the Far North District Council’s vote was almost unanimous, with just one vote against, it was not without reservations from some councillors.

Deputy Mayor Kelly Stratford said she struggled with the decision because it was clear from public submissions that Far Northerners wanted to keep water and wastewater services in-house.

“They did tell us, in overwhelming numbers, they did not want to go with the CCO [council-controlled company] model.”

However, she said refusing to sign up would likely lead to Government intervention, and the loss of “any ability to shape the future for Far North people”.

That was echoed by Penetaui Kleskovic, who said councillors had no choice but to agree by the September 3 deadline.

“The truth of the matter is, if we were to vote against it, the Government will force us to do it anyway, and then we’re likely to risk the ability to get any funding out of the Crown.”

Stratford said it was not clear from the agreement how the council would be able to uphold its agreements with iwi and hapū, and “the Treaty obligations that we hold dear”.

A treatment plant drawing from the Waitangi River supplies water to Paihia, Ōpua and Waitangi, where the population explodes in summer. Photo / RNZ, Peter de Graaf

Mayor Moko Tepania, however, said much of the detail had yet to be negotiated by the three councils.

The agreement included an “off ramp” if councillors wanted out in the future.

Tepania also spelled out the difficult position the district was in, with a lot of ageing infrastructure, a small ratepayer base to pay for upgrades, and stricter regulations on the way for drinking water quality.

“Only four of our 16 wastewater plants are fully compliant. One of our water treatment plants is currently non-compliant. We need a significant amount of investment to upgrade our systems … Joining Whangārei and Kaipara and setting up a water entity is going to see that capital actually spent, to get those upgrades done for the people of the Far North,” he said.

Under the agreement, each council was also required to commit $500,000 to the set-up costs of the new company.

Marlon Bridge, chief technical officer for Local Water Done Well, told councillors the draft plan put them “on the right path to be successful”.

The council-owned company would have $1 billion in combined assets and would invest $1b over the next 10 years.

The three councils would set up a shareholder council to oversee an independent, professional board of directors.

Bridge said residents would not see any immediate change with each district keeping its own water pricing for now.

However, the agreement “kept the door open” for region-wide price harmonisation in future.

Far North district councillors debate joining a Northland-wide council-controlled water company. Photo / RNZ, Peter de Graaf

A report tabled at the meeting painted a sobering picture of Northland’s water and wastewater infrastructure.

Of the three Northland councils, Whangārei was usually seen as being in the best position – thanks to significant investment in recent years, and the fact most of its population was concentrated in one area.

However, the report showed even Whangārei faced eye-watering costs in the next 10 years, with an upgrade to Ruakākā’s wastewater system expected to cost $87 million. Across the district, 10 wastewater-related consents were due for renewal in the next decade.

In the Kaipara, which had by far the smallest ratepayer base of all three districts, wastewater upgrades in fast-growing Mangawhai were projected to cost $60m over the same period.

According to the report, the Far North had nine reticulated drinking water supplies, Whangārei four and Kaipara five.

The number of wastewater treatment plants was 16 in the Far North, nine in Whangārei and six in Kaipara.