As expected Taupō District councillors on Tuesday (June 24) voted to retain the council's water services in-house – its preferred option during recent consultation and one supported by a majority of submissions.
Meeting Tensions
While the oral presentations from Te Moananui Rameka of Waipahihi Marae, Chris Hector of iTSi Solutions and former Waikato Region councillor Laurie Burdett went off without a hitch, discussion between councillors then descended into an uneasy verbal tug of war centred once again around councillor Duncan Campbell and process.
Campbell said he had come to a different conclusion than the recommendations – to retain water services in-house in a separate business unit and review in two years and also to join Waikato Waters as a limited shareholder for shared services, such as procurement – and wanted to present several slides to explain his position.
