Whanganui District Councillor Alan Taylor described the Government's Three Waters consultation process as a "mangy dog with fleas".
Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui District Councillor Alan Taylor described the Government's Three Waters consultation process as a "mangy dog with fleas".
Photo / Bevan Conley
With reactions ranging from "disappointed" to "a mangy dog with fleas", Whanganui leaders are unimpressed with the Government's announcement yesterday on the Three Waters reforms.
McDouall said it effectively left the council without the ability to consult formally or vote on the changes.
Whanganui and its water assets will become part of an entity comprising 22 districts and McDouall said the Government had still not answered concerns about how the council would be compensated for its investments in water infrastructure.
"There are still concerns about cross-subsidisation, which I have spoken about before.
"We have invested heavily in our water infrastructure on behalf of our ratepayers, whereas some councils have not."
McDouall said there was a great divergence of views among local authorities and all had unique concerns about their water infrastructures.
A central concern for Whanganui was Te Awa Tupua - the Whanganui River Claims Settlement Bill of 2017 - which recognises Whanganui iwi's unique ancestral relationship with the river, McDouall said.
The legislation provides for the river's long-term protection and restoration by making it a person in the eyes of the law. McDouall said there had been no clarity on how the new structure proposed to meet the requirements of the Te Awa Tupua Act.
McDouall described the Government's consultation on the Three Waters reforms which began in July 2020 as a "concertina-ed process" which had been very stressful and time-consuming for councils.
Whanganui mayor Hamish McDouall said the Government had shown a lack of faith in local government process with its decision on the three waters reforms.
Photo / Bevan Conley
Councillor Alan Taylor described the process as "a mangy dog with fleas that needs to be taken to the vet".
"What concerns me is that only a small portion of concerns have been addressed during the process," Taylor said.
"We have barely had the opportunity to consult with the community or with iwi. Discussions have predominantly focused on drinking water whereas stormwater management is of huge concern. It's been like the elephant in the room - and in terms of climate change, it's imperative to address it."
Taylor said although the possibility that the Government would make the reforms mandatory had been considered, he was surprised at the timing of the announcement.
"We had been led to believe there would be time for public consultation after we were given time to work through the proposals as a council and feed back to the Government.
"Because some councils had already indicated that they would be opting out, I think the Government was left with the option to either scrap the reforms or make them mandatory because the proposed model would not work if too many opted out."
Councillor Josh Chandulal-Mackay said the Government's marketing campaign had shown a lack of good faith in working with local government.
Photo / Bevan Conley
Councillor Josh Chandulal-Mackay said he was very disappointed by the announcement and believed it demonstrated a lack of good faith on the part of the Government.
"We still don't know whether we will be compensated for the $23m of assets this council sold to help pay for water infrastructure," he said.
"For years councils have been telling previous governments that ratepayer funding has not been sufficient to pay for water services and asked for central funding.
"We are currently undergoing a review of local government and it would make sense to address water infrastructure, along with other concerns when that has concluded."
Chandulal-Mackay said the Government had promised to work in partnerships with councils on the reforms.
"They made that commitment, and at the same time they have run a national marketing campaign that gives the impression that the only two options are a toxic waste situation if the reforms don't go ahead or a clean water utopia if they do.
"While I agree that we have a national three waters problem, I signed an oath to serve Whanganui and this council has worked extremely hard to maintain good water infrastructure."
The mayor and councillors were concerned that the structures and management of the new entities had not been clearly explained and the Government had not yet responded to questions and concerns from the council and community.
