The closing date for submissions to the select committee is July 22. Photo / Getty Images
The closing date for submissions to the select committee is July 22. Photo / Getty Images
The deadline for any Three Waters Reform feedback is coming closer and Waipā District mayor Jim Mylchreest says now is the time to speak up.
The Government's Finance and Expenditure Committee is taking submissions from the public until July 22 and Mylchreest says it's important the community doesn'tmiss the opportunity.
"The public currently has the one and only opportunity to have their say on the water reforms.
"Along with myself and some of my fellow elected members, the wider Waipā community has indicated their strong opposition to the reforms in their current format so now's the time to speak up and share their thoughts on that."
Waipā District Council, along with five other Waikato councils, is a member of the Local Government action group Communities 4 Local Democracy He Hapori mō te Manapori (C4LD).
Manawatu mayor and C4LD chairwoman Helen Worboys says the group had been approached by many people unhappy with what was being suggested.
"Now it is time for everyone to take action. This is the only chance that you will get to have any say whatsoever on what happens to our districts' infrastructure."
Waipā mayor Jim Mylchreest. Photo / Supplied
"We need to deliver a strong message to the Government that people want a better form of reform that respects the decades of investment by local communities and enables them to preserve a real say in how their money is spent in future."
C4LD says it developed a "common sense" model for reform that "everyone can get behind" and that delivers every outcome sought by the Government.
A Department of Internal Affairs spokesperson previously disputed that C4LD's model was going to deliver the same outcomes and said water customers and taxpayers would be likely to face higher costs under this approach.
Worboys says the group is also calling on the Government to ensure that local communities are heard by making sure that the select committee meetings aren't heard solely in Wellington.
"When you have the option of speaking in person it's important to take that opportunity. Every person that doesn't take part in the process will be counted ... as being in support."
Meanwhile, the Taxpayers Union visited Te Awamutu and Hamilton last week as part of its Stop Three Waters Roadshow. The union presented its Stop Three Waters petition which Mylchreest says he backed "100 per cent".
