The Taupō District Council will canvass three options with the public for the future of water services delivery and management in the district.
While consultation is not binding, it is required under Local Water Done Well (LWDW) – the coalition government's rejig of Labour's Three Waters reforms (drinking, waste and stormwater).
Tuesday's full meeting of the council decided almost unanimously, but for an abstention by Duncan Campbell, to follow officers' recommendations, concluding 12 months of option scoping.
The Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Act has required councils to review their water services delivery model and consider alternatives. Public consultation must include the preferred proposal and at least one alternative – though the council has opted to put up two – meaning two of the three options presented are Taupō-based single council organisations.
As LWDW programme manager Jo Walton noted in her written report to the meeting: "…throughout previous Three Waters Reform, Taupō District Council has been consistent in its stance. We accepted that while the status quo was not sustainable, we were concerned about loss of local voice and challenged the idea that larger entities would necessarily be more efficient."
Material presented to the meeting compared the existing inhouse model to the two most feasible alternative options that met government requirements. These were joining a regional multi-council-controlled water services entity (Waikato Water) or forming a single council-controlled organisation (Taupō Water).
In an interview with Lake FM, Deputy Mayor Kevin Taylor explained the council's preference for keeping services in-house: "Managing this in-house would be cheaper for at least the next 10 years for ratepayers than if we joined a multi-council controlled organisation."
Taylor emphasised this isn't maintaining the status quo. "This is not status quo. We have Taumata Arowai, which is the central government regulator of water standards. They have a mandate to ensure that the new standards and significantly enhanced standards are applied."
He also noted Taupō's infrastructure advantage: "We have invested heavily over a considerable period of time and our water infrastructure, both freshwater and wastewater, is significantly ahead of many other councils in the country."
Considering financial sustainability, service quality, governance, potential efficiencies, risks and complexity, as well as the impact on other council services, the council determined the best option currently was to retain water services inhouse – though this option would still include significant changes to how the TDC must manage and report on water services.
The council's public consultation will run until 4:30pm on May 29 with information and submission forms available at taupo.govt.nz/haveyoursay.
Feedback, including hearings, will be followed by any final revisions to the Water Services Delivery Plan before this is approved in late June or early July in time to present to the Minister for Local Government on September 3.
