Vince Cocurullo: What does Local Water Done Well mean for Whangārei?

Mayor Vince Cocurullo says Whangārei District Council has used funding from ratepayers to invest heavily in water infrastructure.

Vince Cocurullo is the Mayor of Whangārei District.

OPINION

• The Local Water Done Well policy empowers councils to manage water assets, unlike the previous Three Waters proposal.
• Whangarei District Council has budgeted $85 million for upgrading the Ruakākā wastewater treatment plant.
• Councils must complete a water services delivery plan by September 2025, assessing their water infrastructure needs.

What is Local Water Done Well? Is it the same as the old Three Waters proposal? No, it’s not! The previous Three Waters proposal was about central government confiscating assets and putting them into a centralised governing body, external to councils and the public. The new Local Water Done Well policy is about empowering councils to bring their assets up to a level that meets today’s standards.

Many councils within New Zealand are struggling to meet today’s standards. Whangārei District Council is not one of them. This does not mean we don’t still have work to do. Whangārei is expanding, and we need to make sure our infrastructure is dealing with that growth.

For example, Ruakākā is now at a point where it needs its wastewater treatment plant upgraded. We have included this in our 10-year long term plan, and because of the demand and pressure in this area, council is now looking at bringing it forward. Poroti water treatment plant is also in line to be upgraded, and we have pipes within our CBD which need replacing all because of the growth we’re experiencing within Whangārei’s CBD.

These upgrades are not going to be cheap.

The Ruakākā wastewater treatment plant alone is estimated to cost $85 million, which Whangārei District Council has budgeted for, and has been collecting development contributions towards. It’s exactly this kind of forward planning and careful budgeting that has put Whangārei District in such a strong position with our water assets.

In short, Whangārei District Council has used funding from ratepayers to invest heavily in water infrastructure in the past and, compared with many councils, we are in very good shape to meet our district’s current and future water service needs.

With all that in mind, what does the Local Water Done Well policy really mean for Whangārei? Presently this new policy will see water, wastewater and stormwater services remain under local government control. This recognises the importance of local decision-making, and flexibility for our communities to determine how these services will be delivered in the future.

The policy also has a strong emphasis on meeting economic, environmental and water-quality regulatory requirements.

Under the Local Water Done Well policy, all councils will need to complete a water services delivery plan by September 2025. This will require councils to give a long-term assessment of their water infrastructure, including how much they need to invest, and how they plan to finance and deliver that plan through their preferred water service delivery model.

All councils need to show that they can deliver water services that meet the regulatory requirements, support growth and urban development, and are financially sustainable. Which could mean retaining an in-house business unit, or shared services across various councils, or creating a single council-owned water services organisation, or a multi-owned water organisation.

Even though Whangārei can stand alone, we have been asked to look at all options for a water services delivery plan for the whole of Northland.

Once each council has fully considered these options, we will be asking for your feedback. We expect this will be in the first half of 2025.

For more information about Local Water Done Well, visit the Department of Internal Affairs website: www.dia.govt.nz