Great divide looms over water bills

John Banks. Photo / Dean Purcell

Super City mayoral candidate John Banks is refusing to divulge a water policy that could increase the cost of water services for about 127,000 households in Manukau, Waitakere and the North Shore by up to several hundred dollars a year.

The Auckland City mayor will not say at this stage if he plans to introduce regionwide his council's policy of extensive user-pays for water services, which rewards people who do not use a lot of water but punishes heavy users.

Councils charge for water on a user-pays basis, but Auckland City is the only one of the big four councils to have user-pays for wastewater.

The others have fixed charges for wastewater - $399 for residents in Manukau, $430 in Waitakere and $489 on the North Shore.

If the Auckland City charging system was imposed across the region, about 60 per cent of Manukau households would pay more for water, 56 per cent in Waitakere would pay more and 48 per cent on the North Shore would pay more.

These figures are based on the average wastewater bill of about $470 collected by Auckland City's water company, Metrowater. They are approximate because the price charged for water varies between councils.

They also do not include savings expected from merging all the councils' water operations into a single council-controlled organisation for water.

On Tuesday, Mr Banks dropped hints that he was looking at a more extensive user-pays system for the region, a move likely to be supported by the right-wing Citizens & Ratepayers ticket, which set up Metrowater in 1997.

C&R councillor and financial committee chairman Doug Armstrong said he supported the idea because it was fair and provided an incentive for people to use less water or alternative measures, such as rainwater tanks.

Mr Banks' main rival for the Super City mayoralty, Manukau Mayor Len Brown, has also still to announce his water policy, but told the Herald he did not support the Metrowater system, which includes an annual fixed charge of $81.04 and user-pays for wastewater based on 75 per cent of the total water supplied.

City Vision leader Richard Northey, whose Labour-Greens ticket supports Mr Brown, has said he does not support user-pays for wastewater because a fixed charge was sufficient to encourage water savings without "socking" customers with higher bills.

The wastewater issue is the first major policy difference with a bearing on voters' wallets to appear between the right and left factions contesting the Super City elections.

The problem for Mr Banks and C&R is that low water users benefiting from lower water bills remain silent, while those facing bigger bills will make a loud noise.

It is not unusual for large users in Auckland City to pay more than $1000 a year for wastewater - more than twice the fixed charge at the other big cities.

Mr Banks, standing on a platform of "affordable progress", yesterday acknowledged it was a huge challenge to create fair charging for wastewater.

"None of this is easy. It needs a lot of careful thought, smart work, much fairness and accountability.

"I am going to have a policy before the election that people can have alook at."

UP OR DOWN?

Will your water bill go up or down?

Step one:
* Check your rates bills for annual water consumption.

Step two:
* If you use more than 140cu m of water a year in Manukau your bill is likely to rise. If you use less, your bill is likely to fall.
* If you use more than 150cu m of water a year in Waitakere your bill is likely to rise. If you use less, your bill is likely to fall.
* If you use more than 172cu m of water a year on the North Shore your bill is likely to rise. If you use less, your bill is likely to fall.

*Based on current Metrowater prices in Auckland City being introduced regionwide. They do not include any savings from merging councils' water operation into a single water company for the Super City.