Taupō District Council drafts submission on Water Services Entities Bill 2022

Taupō District Council debates the Three Waters bill at the ordinary meeting on June 28, 2022. Image / YouTube

On Tuesday the Taupō District Council released their submission to the Three Waters bill.

In a strongly worded submission, the council says it remains opposed to the Water Services Entities Bill in its current form and believes getting it wrong will be crippling to the local community.

The submission says the council agrees that change is necessary but it doesn't agree with how the Government has approached the reforms and says the proposed model is overly complex.

One of the key drivers for the Three Waters bill is the belief that efficiencies will be achieved. However Taupō believes this is incorrect.

"Chasing cost efficiencies through scale and centralisation is likely to lead to more layers of bureaucracy and will disenfranchise communities."

Their submission says the Three Waters bill excludes councils from their role as a critical link between planning for urban growth and providing the infrastructure for future drinking water, wastewater and stormwater.

"Our voice and the voices of our communities won't be heard."

In their submission the council says the new entity will be operated so as to keep local government 'at arms-length so it cannot interfere'.

"This strikes at the heart of democracy and it is not good enough."

In its current form, the Water Services Entity Bill threatens the Taupō community's ability to drive its "places function" as providing water infrastructure is linked to placemaking and is a core function of council.

The council are also worried about the lack of connection with the upcoming review of local government.

"Frankly, the Government is trying to do too much too fast and in the wrong order."

The very existence of the bill is having a negative impact on "business as usual" such as scheduled infrastructure upgrades.

A fundamental reason for the Bill is that costs will be equalised, where larger populations will assist smaller populations to achieve compliance, but "there is no reflection of this in the Bill, and we are told that there is no expectation for this to be included in the second Bill".

The submission makes a number of recommendations for improvements, should the Bill proceed.

The full Taupō District Council submission can be viewed at www.taupo.govt.nz/threewatersreform . Anyone can make a submission at https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/make-a-submission/document/53SCFE_SCF_BILL_124081/water-services-entities-bill, and submissions close July 22, 2022.