Nat’s Three Waters meeting
THERE is a huge burden on Southland councils and a fear their local voice will be lost, National's spokesman for the local government says.
MP Simon Watts visited Invercargill yesterday where he met Invercargill Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt and Southland District Mayor Gary Tong to discuss their concerns around the challenges facing their councils — especially Labour’s proposed Three Waters reform.
Mr Watts said the engagement was the start of a genuine relationship between the party and the councils
‘‘Local government and our local communities are struggling under a huge burden of reforms. Whether it is civil defence, RMA [Resource Management Act], the future local government, Three Waters . . . all of those is ripping the heart out of local government, making harder for them [councils] to deliver core services.’’
He said there was a feeling that the ‘‘onesizefitsall’’ model proposed by Labour in relation to the water infrastructure would cause a loss of local autonomy and voice in important decisions.
His party would repeal early the proposed legislation if elected, he said.
‘‘We would focus on the areas in the country where there are real needs.
‘‘If it’s not broken, we wouldn’t fix it.’’
Mayors Tong and Sir Tim said the meeting had been very positive.
‘‘We had a really good discussion around the challenges we are facing including the future of local government and Three Waters,’’ Mr Tong said.
Sir Tim said he was most impressed by Mr Watts.