The plan is to ensure all water is safe and clean, and the Government said it would save communities money. Photo / NZME
The plan is to ensure all water is safe and clean, and the Government said it would save communities money. Photo / NZME
The Government's plans to remove water infrastructure from councils and place them in the hands of four mega-entities has left Eastern Bay councils uneasy and apprehensive.
The plans would have Kawerau, Ōpōtiki and Whakatāen's water infrastructure given to an entity that covers Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, and northern Manawatu-Whanganui– a population of 800,000.
The mega-entity would control the region's drinking water, stormwater and wastewater infrastructure.
Kawerau Mayor Malcolm Campbell said his council would like some time to think about what the reforms would mean for Kawerau district ratepayers and to ask its community whether it was happy to opt into the scheme.
Although he conceded the council might not have a choice – Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta has not ruled out forcibly removing council assets if they do not agree to hand them over.
Many in the Kawerau community have already expressed concern about the Government's plan through the council's long-term plan process.
"We had overwhelming support from the community in our LTP about our water and keeping control of it," Campbell said.
"When push comes to shove, it will be up to the community to decide what happens. This is an asset that has been paid for by the ratepayers of this community and basically, they [the Government] want us to hand it over."
Unlike other councils, such as Wellington, Kawerau's water infrastructure is in good shape and the council isn't carrying any debt on it. Kawerau council has already committed to spending $12 million over the next six years to replace all drinking water pipes in the district and its wastewater plant is only 10 years old.
Campbell is concerned his community will have to subsidise other communities whose councils have failed to maintain their infrastructure.
The Department of Internal Affairs released figures this week that estimate, without reform, Kawerau households will be paying $2440 a year for water in 2051. It estimates, with reform, households will pay $1220.
Kawerau Mayor Malcolm Campbell. Photo / NZME
Campbell said those figures were not accurate. He said the council's accountants had not reached the same figures.
Internal Affairs also started advertising this week to sell the Three Waters reform to the nation. Campbell said it was "appalling" the department had done this before councils and communities had all the information available on how the reforms would affect them.
"If you knew the people we were talking about, you would know why. They are childish lunatics," he said.
"They've treated us like halfwits, and I've had a gutsful. You can't get an honest answer out of them."
Campbell said of the country's 67 mayors, there was a considerable amount of anger and distaste with how the reform had happened.
"I'm quite convinced we need to hold fire, get all the facts and then talk to our community and iwi and see what they want," he said.
Opotiki District Council chief executive Aileen Lawrie has raised similar concerns.
Like Campbell, she is concerned about the advertising campaign starting before councils have all the facts, and doesn't believe figures provided by Internal Affairs are accurate.
Figures provided by the department estimate that without reform, Ōpōtiki households will be paying $8690 a year for water in 2051. With reform it estimates Ōpōtiki households will be paying $1220 a year.
Lawrie said the gap between the figures "seems too big to be realistic".
"It does not seem credible that Opotiki District Council could charge local ratepayers $8600-plus for Three Waters under any scenario," she said.
"It also appears that they have applied a very large subsidy figure to the 'aggregated authority' costs, but not to the council-owned equivalent, so we are not comparing apples with apples.
"These models are built on a lot of assumptions, particularly around population and economic growth, and it doesn't appear that these assumptions match the assumptions that underpin our local decision-making such as our long-term plan.
"So, that is another issue we would need to look into," Lawrie said.
She said although she would like some time to really understand the information, she was concerned the Government had launched an expensive marketing campaign to try to shift public opinion before the council had all the facts.
The advertisements depict cartoon people, swimming in green muck in one example and, in another, a person unable to take a shower because there is no water. Neither of these situations is a reality in Ōpōtiki.
"Regardless of where this reform lands in the long term, the council's job is to ensure that the local voice is heard and that the burden is not too heavy on our residents," Lawrie said.
"We have been investing in our three waters for many years and more is planned as you can see in our long-term plan. We would need to make sure that the benefits of local investment are not lost in a larger entity."
Whakatane Mayor Judy Turner was less scathing of the reforms and said her council was "keeping an open mind".
Turner said her council was considering the intent of the Government to monitor all private water and sewerage supplies in the country too.
"I think the Government was surprised that a third of New Zealand receives their drinking water from private bores; much higher than they imagined," she said.
"Apparently, these all need to be regulated and monitored. If we opt in, the Government's new entities would do this. If we opt out, that might be a role we have to pick up ourselves and that would be very costly."
Internal Affairs figures estimate Whakatāne district households will be paying $6250 a year without reform for water in 2051. With reform, the district's households will be paying $1220.
Turner said she didn't believe these figures were accurate, but was open to the idea that regionalising water services could result in a more cost-effective delivery – particularly as Whakatāen's water infrastructure needed some work.
She said there was a lot of concern among councils that the Government was undertaking a lot of reforms at the same time that affected councils.
These reforms included reforming the Resource Management Act, Three Waters and the potential reforms of councils themselves.
"The Government is unfettered by a smaller party so understandably they are getting things done they have always aspired to," she said.
"So, there are lots of unknowns for us, but our opinion is that its unwise to determine where we will land and to instead keep an open mind."
How the Three Waters reform would work
The Government is planning to remove drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure from the nation's 67 councils and place it in the hands of four mega-entities.
The plan is to ensure all water is safe and clean and the Government said it would save communities money.
It is a response to the Havelock North incident in 2016, during which four people died and 5000 fell ill after drinking water contaminated with campylobacter.
Entity A would cover Auckland and Northland, a population of 1.725 million people, with most in Auckland.
Entity B would cover Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki and northern Manawatu-Whanganui, a population of 800,000.
Entity C would cover the eastern and southern parts of the North Island and the top of the South Island. This would include Hawke's Bay, Horowhenua, Wellington, Nelson and Malborough, a population of 955,000.
Entity D would cover the rest of the South Island.
About 10 people would sit on the governing board of each entity. These people would be council representatives and tangata whenua.
The entities would be required to consult before making decisions.
