Three Waters: Whanganui region mayors have mixed reactions to Government announcement

Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson announced the Three Waters reforms will proceed with working party recommendations included. Photo / NZME

There are mixed local reactions to the Government's plans to push ahead with its Three Waters reform programme.

Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson announced on Friday that most of the recommendations from a working group formed to smooth over the most controversial aspects of the Three Waters reforms would be adopted and councils would now have a shareholding in the four new water entities.

Mahuta said she acknowledged the "anxiety around change, but ratepayers and local communities cannot keep paying more and more for services that have been underinvested in for too long, and now put their health at risk".

"We are now at a point where the case for change is well made and the policy has been robustly tested and improved. We have listened to concerns and now it is time to move forward with these reforms," she said.

The independent working group, comprised of representatives from local government and iwi/Māori, considered how representation, governance and accountability arrangements for water services entities could be strengthened and published its recommendations in March. The Government has agreed to adopt 44 of the working party's 47 recommendations.

Whanganui Mayor Hamish McDouall said his concerns remained about the speed of the reforms and the lack of assurance from the Government that councils would be compensated for investment and debt incurred for maintaining water infrastructure.

"I think that this is a good decision from a national perspective but my concerns for Whanganui have not changed," he said.

"We have sold non-water assets and incurred debt to maintain our water services and that has to be acknowledged."

The Government has now agreed to give councils "shares" in the new water entities, with each council getting one share per 50,000 people in its district which will be rounded up to make sure each council has at least one share.

McDouall believed it would be fairer to base the number of shares for each council on the state of their water assets rather than their population.

"It will level out over time but, in the short term, councils that have invested heavily will be subsidising those that have not. The speed of the reforms has not allowed for an accurate assessment.

"I am also not reassured as to how the entities will manage things at a local level. If a pipe bursts in Aramoho for instance, will it be addressed in a timely manner as it is now. I still think a better timeline would have been the review of the RMA [Resource Management Act], the Future of Local Government review, and then the Three Waters reforms."

Local mayors have mixed reactions to the Government's decision to push ahead with water reforms. Photo / NZME

Whanganui District Council has opted to consult the local public and lobby the Government on the Three Waters reform process while Rangitīkei, Ruapehu and South Taranaki councils joined the Communities 4 Local Democracy He hapori mō te Manapori (C4LD) coalition which delivered its own set of recommendations to Parliament recently.

C4LD chairwoman and Manawatū Mayor Helen Worboys described the Government's plans to push ahead with the Three Waters reforms after considering the working party's recommendations as a "tinkering around the edges" that didn't make the model itself any more palatable for communities.

"This is a dark day for local democracy as the Government has continued to force this reform through without the consent of its stakeholders or their communities," she said.

Ruapehu Mayor Don Cameron said he was not surprised by Friday's announcement and welcomed the news.

"I have been an avid and unashamed supporter of the reforms all along because I have no doubts about the benefits to our community," he said.

Cameron and three Ruapehu councillors were outvoted by a majority to join C4LD.

Robertson said, in the long run, the changes would save people money.

"Fundamentally these reforms are about delivering clean and safe drinking water at an affordable price for New Zealanders. Without reform, households are facing water costs of up to $9000 per year, or the prospect of services that fail to meet their needs," Robertson said.

The Government intends to pass legislation giving effect to the reforms in the current term of Parliament.