Whangārei District Council to appeal in fight for compensation over Three Waters assets

An anti-Three Waters sign on Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo's property shows he has been opposed to the controversial proposal from the start.

Whangārei District Council is ramping up its opposition to the controversial Three Waters plans by joining an appeal against a High Court decision that dismissed a claim seeking a declaration preventing the Government from taking the assets without compensation.

At stake is around $1.4 billion worth of ratepayer-owned Three Waters assets - stormwater, wastewater and drinking water - paid for over many generations.

WDC had taken the case to the High Court along with South Canterbury’s Timaru and North Canterbury’s Waimakariri district councils, which challenged the then Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta and Secretary for Internal Affairs Paul James over Three Waters.

However, High Court judge Justice Jillian Mallon dismissed a claim by the councils seeking a declaration preventing the Government from taking the assets without compensation. Justice Mallon said the councils’ legal bid sought to influence the legislative process involved in Three Waters’ establishment, a role the High Court was not satisfied it should have.

The councils sought legal clarity on ownership and compensation, saying that under Three Waters reforms, the Government was “expropriating” council-owned property without considering that it was “taking” the assets and “without fair compensation”. Expropriating means a government or other authority formally by law taking away property, especially for public use, without payment to the owner of the property.

Vince Cocurullo said last year when he was elected mayor that holding fast to WDC’s position against the Government’s Three Waters plans was the first of five key focus areas in his new role.

The mayor said that the ‘’fight is not over” to retain local council ownership of Three Waters assets, after a resolution was made in a confidential meeting in chambers on Thursday for the council to join Timaru and Waimakariri authorities in their appeal of the June 2023 High Court decision.

Cocurullo said he’s confident this is the right move for Whangārei ratepayers.

“In July 2020, the Government launched their Three Waters reform programme, which proposed that management of three waters assets be transferred out of local government hands and into new entities,’’ he said.

‘’To start with, we were able to opt in or out of the reforms, and to help with the decision-making process, our council commissioned a report from global economic consultants Castalia. The final report was received in late August 2021, and the findings in that report supported council’s decision to opt out of the reforms.”

But, in October 2021, the Government announced that councils could no longer “opt out” of the reforms and Cocurullo said this is when the situation became uncomfortable.

“In November 2021, we joined with Timaru District Council and Waimakariri District Council to file a High Court application seeking clarification of what ownership means in relation to their ratepayer-funded water assets. Then, in December 2021, our council, Kaipara and the Far North district councils joined ‘Communities 4 Local Democracy’ - He hapori mō te Manapori, a group of 30 councils who banded together to express serious concerns about the Government’s proposed Three Waters reforms,’’ he said.

“Our frustration lies in the lack of compensation being offered. These assets have been bought and paid for by the residents of our district. We’ve spent more than $120 million on our stormwater, wastewater and drinking water assets just in the past 10 years, and our current Three Waters asset register adds up to more than $1.4 billion.

“The future of Whangārei District Council’s Three Waters assets is at stake, and that has a direct impact on our residents. We have a responsibility to continue to protect their investment in our water infrastructure and services, and that’s what the resolution passed today will allow us to do.”

A date for the hearing of the appeal has yet to be set.