Auckland Council reveal most Aucklanders support targeted rate for water quality

Lifeguard Dan Lee stands with a sign at Takapuna Beach warning people of the poor water quality. Photo / Dean Purcell

Almost 70 per cent of Aucklanders who submitted feedback support a targeted rate to improve water quality.

With just over a week of consultation left, about 7000 Aucklanders have provided written feedback on the council's 10-year Budget and Auckland Plan 2050 and 67 per cent supported the introduction of the rate.

Aucklanders were also in favour of a regional fuel tax to invest more in transport (51 per cent) and a targeted rate for environmental initiatives to tackle issues like kauri dieback (57 per cent).

A proposed targeted rate of around $1.30 per week for the average residential household will generate $400 million. It forms part of the council's $7 billion investment in Auckland's water infrastructure in the proposed 10-year Budget.

This will fund critical investment in water infrastructure that will clean up the city's harbours and beaches, and reduce wastewater overflows into Auckland's waterways by between 80 per cent and 90 per cent.

Mayor Phil Goff said the 10-year Budget outlines plans to address decades of underinvestment in stormwater and wastewater systems. The targeted rate will allow the council to do work in 10 years that would otherwise take 30 years.

"It will make our environment cleaner and water quality better. It will make beaches safer for our children and grandchildren to swim in.

"Poor water quality is no longer acceptable to me and it's no longer acceptable to the majority of Aucklanders who love our beaches."

The Red Beach Surf Life Saving Club has had to cancel training around 20 times since the beginning of the year and cancelled its surf carnival for the first time in 60 years due to red alerts on their water quality.

The club's chair Dylan Turner would support a targeted rate but only if water-quality evidence and projects were transparent to the public. Otherwise it risked being another "rate-paying exercise that dissipates into the network".

Turner was suspicious that duck faeces was causing the water-quality issues at Red Beach rather than human sewage. He wanted to make sure the source of the problem was accurately identified before throwing money at it.

"Everyone needs to just step back a touch and get some more evidence around the issue.

"I'd like to identify the problem, get a steering committee together and mitigate the issues so kids can swim at the beach and we can actually grow lifeguards to keep people alive in the water."