Rangitīkei District Council adopts collaborative water services delivery plan

Rangitīkei Mayor Andy Watson says there are considerable savings for delivering water services by joining with Horowhenua District Council and Palmerston North City Council. Photo / NZME

Rangitīkei District Council will form a joint water services council controlled organisation (WS-CCO) with Horowhenua District Council and Palmerston North City Council.

The Rangitīkei council, which adopted the joint water services delivery plan (WSDP) at its August 14 meeting, was the last of the three councils to do so after Horowhenua and Palmerston North voted to adopt on August 6 and 12, respectively.

WSDPs are a way for councils to demonstrate their commitment to delivering water services that meet regulatory requirements, support growth and urban development, and are financially sustainable.

All city and district councils in New Zealand must provide a water services delivery plan to the Government by September 3.

The three councils will form a council controlled organisation (CCO) as part of the Local Water Done Well partnership.

Council chief executive Carol Gordon said it was one of the biggest decisions the council had made.

“This is the beginning of a journey and it is great to be able to sign this off in plenty of time that the Government has given us but the hard work now begins,” Gordon said.

“We have lots of agreements and things we need to sort out between [councils] but I feel it will be relatively easy to work with those people.

“I think that is the right approach and that council will be pleased with the result that we get from that relationship.”

Ruapehu District Council pulled out of the collaboration in July and instead decided to partner with Whanganui District Council.

Ruapehu Mayor Weston Kirton called for an “urgent rethink” on going with the two-council model but it was rejected on August 13.

However, the joint WS-CCO was open to the possibility of other councils joining before the submission date.

Rangitīkei Mayor Andy Watson said there would be “considerable savings” with the joint WS-CCO with Horowhenua and Palmerston North City.

It would cost Rangitīkei ratepayers an estimated $3093 in 2027/28.

An in-house only plan would have cost $3493.

By 2033/34, it is estimated that ratepayers will save $937 a year through the joint WSDP.

Watson said choosing to go alone in the delivery model was not an option.

“The affordability of this is critical but I would expect that every council will be part of some form of entity in the next five to 10 years and it is up to us as part of forming this to be able to drive the expectations through the government law - we need to be in that space early.”

The joint WSDP includes an implementation plan which proposes the WS-CCO be established as a legal entity by July 1, 2026, and fully operational from July 1, 2027.

The joint plan will now be submitted to the Department of Internal Affairs for approval.

The Government will confirm plans from October and, if plans are accepted, implementation will begin the following month.

Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui