Councillors have rejected the Ruapehu mayor's plea to reconsider a decision to partner solely with Whanganui District Council in future water services.
A push by Ruapehu Mayor Weston Kirton to scrap a water services deal he says will add nearly $1000 a year to household bills has been voted down.
Councillors at a meeting in Taumarunui on Wednesday rejected 7-3 Kirton’s call for an urgent rethink of last month’s decision to partner solely with Whanganui District Council.
Kirton warned that the two-council water services body would cause “extreme unaffordability” and called for Ruapehu to instead join a larger partnership with Horowhenua, Rangitīkei, Palmerston North and Whanganui councils to achieve better affordability.
He said the larger model would save Ruapehu water users $3.5 million to $5.4m a year – nearly $1000 per household in the first year alone.
Ruapehu was among the most economically disadvantaged districts in New Zealand, with many households “already stretched to breaking point by the cost-of-living crisis”.
“All of this term we’ve acknowledged this reality, especially for Māori communities. Yet today, some are still prepared to back the most expensive option on the table, a position I cannot understand.”
Kirton said the two-council model would almost double the Department of Internal Affairs’ (DIA) affordability benchmark that water costs should not exceed 2.5% of median household income.
He also cited new information since the original July 9 decision, including a requirement from the Water Services Authority - Taumata Arowai to bring forward costly wastewater treatment upgrades previously delayed for affordability reasons.
The Whanganui council had rejected price harmonisation, which would have shared costs evenly across both councils.
“There is nothing in the two-council arrangement for Ruapehu except ability to increase our debt headroom to borrow more for upgrades our people cannot afford.”
In the public forum, Ngāti Hāua Iwi Trust spokesman Kuru Ketu said the council’s role was to make decisions about water services and infrastructure, not water itself.
Making a decision on the basis of “keeping the catchment together” was “statutory overreach”.
“The relationship and union of the catchment is whakapapa-based and now protected and provided for by Te Awa Tupua legislation. The catchment will remain together regardless of Local Water Done Well arrangements.”
Ketu said 70% of Māori in northern Taumarunui ranked among the most deprived in the country. If people could not pay their bills, the council controlled organisation (CCO) could not function.
The trust backed a larger multi-council entity for its greater borrowing capacity, cheaper debt and stronger buying power.
Deana Wilson, representing Ngāti Rangi, supported the two-council decision, highlighting iwi connection to waterways and the link between water health and community wellbeing. She said collaboration was key to finding solutions to the region’s wastewater treatment challenges.
Ratepayer Marama Laurensen urged councillors to focus on practical realities such as cost and community impact rather than personal or emotive views about the river.
“I don’t expect councillors to be carrying that particular responsibility. People elect you to deliver service to the community, not to use this table as a platform for your point of view or your feelings.”
Laurensen said affordability was critical in a deprived community. Without it, “you don’t have the luxury of having wellbeing”, she said.
Kirton said the decision came down to a moral and financial duty.
“Do we protect our people from costs they can’t afford, or do we lock them into a model that will take money they simply don’t have?”
Councillors Brenda Ralph and Janelle Hinch backed Kirton’s position. Ralph warned higher charges would hit tenants, homeowners and businesses alike, forcing some residents to move away.
Hinch said expert advice showed larger multi-council models were the most cost-effective, and warned the two-council option could be unviable for Ruapehu and risk being overturned.
River protections were enshrined in legislation, and whakapapa to the rivers would not be severed, she said. Continuing with the two-council model would cause unnecessary hardship.
Councillor Robyn Gram originally voted to join a larger model but on Wednesday withdrew her support.
Deputy Mayor Viv Hoeta stood by her original vote for the two-council CCO. She said she valued the democratic decision already made and the partnership agreed to by both councils.
The case for affordability was based on assumptions rather than facts, she said.
Councillor Lyn Neeson said she struggled to see how $1000 extra would be imposed on ratepayers.
“I’m deeply concerned that the conversation over the past fortnight has put serious fear into our ratepayers that it is going to be unaffordable to live in Ruapehu.”
Neeson said all councils’ water rates would rise.
“The water improvements have to be made. They were unaffordable, that’s the reason they weren’t made. Now we have to make them.”
A higher borrowing cap, cheaper debt and more buying power were not exclusive to the larger multi-council model, she said.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.