Waikato Councils are disappointed and outraged about the Three Waters Reform becoming mandatory. Photo / Alan Gibson
Waikato councils are outraged by the Government's push to make the Three Waters reforms mandatory and are voicing bitter disappointment.
Hamilton Deputy Mayor Geoff Taylor has launched a petition against it calling for the Government to halt any reforms arising from the current three waters reform proposal that would give control of Hamilton's water assets to a mega-entity.
Almost all Waikato councils feel their feedback is being ignored; none of their concerns were addressed and the Government's promise of allowing local government to consult the public was broken.
Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta confirmed last week that the Government will create four publicly owned water entities to ensure every New Zealander has access to affordable, long-lasting drinking, waste and stormwater infrastructure without ballooning costs to households and families.
"The case for change is too compelling to ignore. It is clear that without the establishment of these publicly owned entities, we will continue to see a frail network and contaminated water in many communities."
She says New Zealanders can't afford to follow the status quo and the reform would save households thousands of dollars.
"It would be irresponsible to pour taxpayers' money into propping up a broken system ... Currently 43 of the 67 councils do not have the revenue to cover their water services operating expenditures, let alone once the infrastructure starts failing."
However, she says it was a bottom line that the entities remain in public ownership and that the Government will continue to work with councils. Work is under way to establish a working group of local government, iwi and water industry experts to work through elements of entity design.
Hamilton-based National list MP David Bennett says it was a "disgrace" how the councils' feedback had been handled. "[It] shows [the Government] doesn't care what people think about this, they are not going to listen to the communities or [councils]."
He says while the water infrastructure would need more investment from the Government, there was no need to take the water ownership away from ratepayers. "It's the Government knowing best. The only way to stop this kind of decision-making is by voting the current Government out in two years' time - or earlier."
Deputy Mayor Taylor says Hamilton City Council contributed to enabling the Government to make the entity model mandatory due to "its weak feedback".
"By going straight to the detail rather than the principle of whether this was right or wrong. HCCs collaboration - which a group of councillors tried to stop - has backfired terribly. Our council never bothered to ask the people what they thought and now it's a done deal."
He says the proposed entity system was unacceptable. "No manner of weasel words, working parties and buy-offs will make it acceptable to our community."
Taylor says the petition, open until February next year around the time a Select Committee in Wellington will hear submissions, is the opportunity for residents to have their say they should have got. The petition is registered with Parliamentary staff and will ultimately be presented to the House.
"I think it will be a resounding message and the Government will have to listen to it. Otherwise, if I was a Labour MP in Hamilton I'd be considering my next career move. It might also be a wake-up call for a few Hamilton city councillors.
"I don't believe our residents want this plan to go ahead. Some water reform is certainly needed but there were far better options that the Government refused to look at."
Waikato District Mayor Allan Sanson says his council was shocked by the news of the reform becoming mandatory. "I thought we were living in a democracy ... It appals me that the minister cut across democracy like that [and] stripped us of assets that belong to the community ... I have never seen anything like this happen before."
He says the Government sent the message that it didn't want to work with councils. "They said they are happy to have a discussion, but [this] is difficult if someone always has the upper hand. .. the selected committee will be focused on what the Government wants."
However, Sanson says everybody has to keep going. "You gotta be professional ... We have to put aside our feelings and try to negotiate."
Waikato Regional Council chairman Russ Rimmington says the reform becoming mandatory without further consulting wasn't what was promised. "I have never seen so much outrage [about a decision] ... From our viewpoint, we did a submission that was ignored ... It's a sad day for local democracy."
Within the feedback process, South Waikato District Mayor Jenny Shattock had announced her council would opt out if there was no more clarity. After the Government's announcement last week, she says she is very disappointed the conditions changed.
"We entered this process in good faith because it was very clearly an opt-in/opt-out choice. Making it mandatory now is a bitter pill to swallow and does nothing to foster a relationship of trust."
She says the council still has the same issues it outlined in its submission. "We are deeply concerned that there is no opportunity for wider community input going forward."
One of Shattock's main concerns is the ownership of the water assets. "[It] is extremely confusing. From what Minister Mahuta said, councils will retain ownership of the three waters assets. But that they will be managed, controlled and governed by the four entities. How can the council own the assets and have no ownership rights? That simply makes no sense."
One who says he has seen the scenario coming is Matamata-Piako Mayor Ash Tanner. He says he is not surprised the Government has gone back on its word.
"To say we're disappointed is an understatement, but it was always on the cards. Their proposal raised a lot of issues and the only way they were going to get it through was by forcing it on us ... As a council, we still disagree with having our water assets being amalgamated into a new entity."
He will now work with his council to ensure Matamata-Piako gets the best deal for its community.
"We need to make sure the larger centres don't get priority over us ... The Government is trying to tell us water services are in crisis and yet as a country we continue to rate amongst the top in the world for water quality.
"As a district, we've managed our water assets well, but if there are some areas of New Zealand that need help then the Government should focus on giving them the help they need. Wholesale change isn't needed."
Taupō District Council stated it felt like the Government doesn't want councils' input and collaboration on the proposals.
Mayor David Trewavas says: "Despite being asked for our input, it would appear neither we nor any other councils were listened to ... about this urgent need to slow down ... This is a major breach of trust and hugely disappointing ... We wanted to work with the Government on this, but we have been turned down."
Like other Waikato councils, he and his councillors received loads of community feedback. "Many [residents] are outraged by the way this has unfolded – they feel this reform is being done to them, not with them. We fully understand how they feel, as we have been blindsided as well.
"These assets are the people of Taupō district's property, paid for by the local people, now just taken from us without our consent - it's simply not on."
Taupō District Council stated it is worried about the lack of public consultation. "It is a critical element of any western democracy that the people are consulted. We are deeply concerned that this did not happen with the government's decision."
However, Trewavas wants to be clear his council agrees that change is required, but strongly disagrees with the proposed model and the way the process has been conducted. He urges concerned residents to look closely into the Three Waters issues and submit their views to the Parliament's select committee, "as we as a council will be staunchly doing".
Waipā District Mayor Jim Mylchreest also expressed his frustration about the promise of a public consultation period being broken.
"Waipā District Council still don't support the reforms in its current format, and we wanted time to consult with our community, in a public forum, which we were not able to do. We also had questions we wanted answers to. It is very disappointing, to say the least."
He says the council will now need to look ahead to what it can do. "How can we make this work best for Waipā – even though we are not happy about it."
Hauraki Mayor Toby Adams is also particularly concerned about the lack of community consultation.
"We were given assurances that throughout the process we would be given time to consult, the Government's announcement to mandate the reform took that away from us. To our communities, it looks like we have done nothing to advocate on our communities' behalf."
Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate says her council raised strong concerns in its feedback on the proposals, and the fight for community voices to be heard was not over yet. "We've said government needs to make some changes and I will be demanding those changes are made.
"[We] demanded ironclad protections against privatisation. Along with my council, I have fought to ensure Hamiltonians can have a say in this reform programme. I will be working with the council to see how we can support our residents and ratepayers to get their views to government."
Waitomo District Council also showed itself angry about the developments. Mayor John Robertson says ratepayers were promised "by the Government's cartoon advertisements" that the new water entities will spend and borrow big time to support water infrastructure improvements, that the new model will be more efficient, that water quality will go up and cost will come down.
"Let's not kid ourselves, [it] will all be billed back to households, including the interest cost on the debt ... We know that centralisation = more bureaucracy = less democracy."
However, he agrees that some change is needed and that small councils like those in the King Country need assistance regarding drinking water and wastewater. "[But] solutions do not require reform on the type, cost, and scale of that proposed."
Otorohanga District Mayor Max Baxter says he was concerned that the Government won't listen to questions raised within the feedback process.
"At the deadline, we still had many more questions than answers. There is still an element of doubt held by many councils that the Crown and the Department of Internal Affairs will not give due consideration to the many concerns expressed by councils and create a model that is unpalatable."
He says it was important that the working groups to be established can enter into constructive dialogue with the Crown. "And create a three waters model that works for New Zealand and local government."
Thames-Coromandel District Council has taken a mild stance towards the Government's announcement by reinforcing its statements from its official feedback, but also underlining this would not constitute council support of the reform proposals.
"In our feedback, we requested that more time be provided to consider the impact of the reforms ... that water must remain in public ownership and that community views must be understood. We didn't make a decision on opting in or out," its official response states.
It says its objective is to make sure any decisions are made in the best interests of its community. "Our council recognises this is a controversial issue and the feedback received from residents and ratepayers is to "opt out". We are receiving a large amount of feedback already, and you can continue to send this to us.
"We did sign up to the first phase in August 2020, which ... allowed us to be part of the discussions regarding this reform. It also allowed our council to receive nearly $5 million in funding, which has been allocated to the Whitianga and Whangamatā water meter project," the statement says.
Meanwhile, Ruapehu Mayor Don Cameron welcomed the certainty the Government's announcement provides and says the district would benefit from the no-worse-off deal.
"Now that government has taken the need for consultation on the reforms off the table, we can focus our attention on the transition and planning for what our future roles and responsibilities will look like without three waters."
He says that councils with small rating bases always had a lot to gain financially from the proposed reforms. In Ruapehu's case, it was estimated they needed to spend more than $600 million on the three waters infrastructure over the next 30 to 40 years.
"Over the next 10 years, we were facing our debt climbing by over $65 million to address drinking water compliance standards alone. Being freed from the debt implications this level of spending will entail while making good use of our $16.4 million share of the 'better-off' package."
Cameron says this also provides the council with the financial capability to start addressing other community needs like housing.
"In the interim, we will continue to work constructively alongside government to ensure the best possible outcomes for our communities."
Of the 67 councils in New Zealand, 60 are opposing the reform at present.
Taylors petition can be found here.
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