Steph Lewis: Affordable Water Reform — Regional focus will mean big savings for ratepayers

Whanganui MP Steph Lewis says regionally focused water reforms will mean big savings for Whanganui ratepayers. Photo / Bevan Conley

OPINION

We need to work together to improve how we manage our water. Since becoming an MP, I have frequently been contacted about leaky pipes or brown water coming out of taps.

I’ve seen burst water mains, boil water notices and no-swimming or fishing signs at our beaches in the electorate. Too many of us have seen first hand the recent flooding, cyclone, and extreme weather events impacting those we care about across the country.

In Whanganui, we have a shortage of houses. However, I have spoken with builders who have been declined subdivision consent for infill housing here because the wastewater pipes in some areas are at capacity and cannot cope with new houses flushing sewage into them.

The lack of funding for our water pipes here is holding back our ability to address our housing problems.

At the moment, councils often pay for water infrastructure by borrowing or selling other assets. New Zealand needs to find $185 billion over the next 30 years just to keep our water pipes up to standard and allow for new housing development.

If we left that cost to be borne by ratepayers under the present system, it would mean costs for water infrastructure of an estimated $6990 in Whanganui to fund that investment. When people are already struggling with the rising cost of living, it simply isn’t good enough to leave things as they are.

We cannot keep kicking this problem down the road. We know we have a growing population, and we know we are going to get more-frequent heavy rain and severe weather events. We need to invest in our pipes now, so our kids and grandkids don’t have to pay for them in the future.

I acknowledge our council has invested in upgrading our wastewater treatment plant. Though many will recall that wasn’t without issue.

When Kieran McAnulty became the Associate Minister for Local Government, he began a tour of all provincial and rural councils nationwide. Not one of them wanted to stick with the system we have. However, reforming how we pay for our water infrastructure is challenging. While everyone believes something needs to change, we also don’t want to lose our local voice.

The Government has listened to people’s feedback on the original Three Waters reforms and has proposed a new model that will have 10 new regional entities created under their Affordable Water Reform.

By extending the number of publicly owned water entities to 10, every council, and therefore every community, will now have a say and representation over their local water services entities. This will provide more local voices for people in Whanganui while still delivering big cost savings.

While other solutions, such as more use of Council Controlled Organisations, have been suggested, these options simply don’t provide the savings needed to make investing in our pipes affordable because they do not provide the scale needed or achieve balance-sheet separation. The Government’s proposed model provides a balance between greater efficiency and maintaining local voice.

The Affordable Water Reform will avoid an estimated $3980 in rate increases by 2054 for the average ratepayer in Whanganui. That will make a huge difference for families here while still ensuring we have safe drinking water.

– Steph Lewis is the member of Parliament for the Whanganui electorate