Nelson loses $15 million of government funding in changes to Three Waters

The Government’s Better Off funding has been used to fund several projects for the city, like adding lighting to the Railway Reserve. Photo / Max Frethey

Nelson will miss out on $15 million of government funding after the changes made to the Three Waters plan.

The funding was part of the $2 billion Better Off financial support package that was to be distributed among councils to support community well-being.

The first tranche of $500m, from which Nelson City Council received $5.18m, has not been affected.

“The loss of any government investment into our region is obviously disappointing, particularly a significant sum like $15.54m,” said acting mayor Rohan O’Neill-Stevens.

But the council was yet to explore how that funding would be used, so planning and projects were “largely unaffected”.

The initial Three Waters reform involved the creation of four water entities that would take over the management of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater from councils.

Nelson, Tasman, and Marlborough were to be in an entity with Wellington and the east coast of the North Island, but concerns were raised about a lack of local representation.

Further changes have since been made to the plan, now renamed Affordable Waters by the Government. The number of entities will be increased to 10, of which the Top of the South will be one.

Nelson MP Rachel Boyack said the Government had responded to calls from many councils asking for smaller entities with more local input.

“Nelson City Council in particular made a strong call for a smaller Top of the South entity, and we have listened to that request and acted on it,” she said. “However, there will be additional costs with a larger number of entities.”

Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty confirmed that $1b of the remaining $1.5b would have been provided by the water entities’ borrowing.

“This will free up the same amount for the entities to invest in their drinking water, wastewater and stormwater networks,” he said. “The remaining $500m, which was to be funded by the Crown, will instead be used to help offset the higher costs of transition and entity establishment.”

O’Neill-Stevens said the council “will continue to strongly advocate to central government for continued investment into Whakatū Nelson”.

Nelson City Council has allocated its $5.18m of funding from the first tranche for several projects, including $2.4m for a city centre play space, $1.1m for lighting the Railway Reserve between Annesbrook and Saxton Field, and $1.1m towards projects that support local art and tourism.