Three Waters Reform
The Government has announced it will make its Three Waters reform mandatory for all councils, rejecting the option to make it voluntary for councils. The reform will see the management of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater transferred from 67 councils to four public-owned entities.
The announcement means Western Bay of Plenty District Council could be part of a central North Island entity involving 22 councils in the greater Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki and parts of Manawatū-Whanganui. The change would not come into place until 2024 and councils will continue to manage three waters until then.
As part of the reform Council would receive $21.3 million out of the $2.5 billion Three Waters Reform package.
On Wednesday 27 October Government announced it will make its Three Waters reform mandatory for all councils, rejecting the option to make it voluntary for councils. The reform will see the management of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater transferred from 67 councils to four public-owned entities from 1 July 2024.
From a Council perspective, this mandate is disappointing given Council bought into this reform process because it was optional and we wanted to do right by our community, whichever our final decision.
Unlike some councils Western Bay has been a good steward of its infrastructure, investing in water networks and treatment plants and in turn providing a good service to its residents.
We will continue to seek clarity on the serious concerns we identified in the draft proposal through Government’s new working groups of council and iwi representatives who will work on developing solutions around governance, representation, and accountability and how the new entities will respond to changes in land use planning.
We want assurance that the Western Bay will get its voice and needs heard and be not overridden by bigger councils or those with bigger problems that need resolution.
While this reform is Government-led, we appreciate our community will be looking to us for answers about how it might affect them and to represent their concerns about the reform.
We can do this by focussing on the outstanding issues that Government wants to resolve through the working groups. How we can influence these working groups will become clear once they are set up.
We can then identify the most effective way to collate your feedback, express the community’s views to Government and advocate for our District’s interests. You’ve told us how you wish to have a Three Waters conversation – how it is explained, and by who, and how you wish to provide feedback to Council – and this will form part of the overall approach
