Next generation will fix water
A Waikato businessman and former city council candidate reckons Waipa District Council has failed to meet the future needs of its people.
Peter Findlay, director of Hamilton firm Peter Findlay and Associates, asked for a judicial review of the way the Waipa council decided to decline forming a shared waters company with Hamilton City Council.
He said it was a decision which would shift the burden of building water infrastructure, to meet an expanding population, on to the next generation.
Findlay recently wrote to the councils, signalling his intention to ask for a High Court review, and asked for the Waipa council to reconsider its decision.
He said the Local Government Act required all councils to plan ahead to meet the current and future needs of communities. It was something he felt Waipa had failed to do by backing out of the share waters company.
Hamilton City Council recently heard forming a shared company with Waipa could potentially achieve efficiencies between $70 and $110 million dollars over 28 years.
Background work on researching what was needed to form the company had already cost over $1m.
Findlay contested the 2014 Hamilton City Council election and had submitted on local government issues for the past 15 years, to Hamilton, Waipa and Thames-Coromandel district councils.
He had also been involved in groups such as FutureProof and had made submissions to the Environment Court and High Court.
‘‘I’ve had a wealth of experience with local government, and have seen first hand the infrastructure deficit that applies both regionally and nationally,’’ he said.
‘‘I’m keen to influence regional and national outcomes to the betterment of all.’’
Findlay said there was an additional concern of ‘‘intergenerational inequity’’ which would result from Waipa’s decision to decline the proposed water company.
He said the council was shift- ing the burden of future water needs on to the next generation.
The long-term savings for ratepayers, which expert advice unanimously indicated the water company would had yielded, would be lost if the proposal didn’t make it to fruition, he said.
Since receiving Findlay’s letter, Waipa council had directed its chief executive to prepare a report for a meeting on March 27, to discuss the challenge and relevant issues raised by Findlay.