Whangārei District Council proposes counter plan for region’s water supplies
WDC firm in opting out of Govt reform
"This report has shown that the reform scenario is founded on unsound evidence and faulty analysis. "
Sheryl Mai
Government Three Waters reform plans are in chaos as Whangarei District Council breaks rank with a Northland entity counterproposal in a New Zealand-first move.
The move comes after a new report shows the Government’s reform scenario — and it’s costs and benefits for Northland — is based on faulty assumptions and flawed analysis.
Whangarei Mayor Sheryl Mai said the counter-proposal, combining Whangarei, Far North and Kaipara District Councils, was already being investigated.
The move to investigate a
Northland-based counter proposal for three waters delivery is in defiance of Government plans. The Government has proposed Whangarei District Council (WDC), Far North District Council (FNDC), Kaipara District Council (KDC) and Auckland Council are combined into a giant group known as Entity A. This would be one of four nationally, combining 67 councils’ provision of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater.
WDC-lead investigations for Northland’s counter-proposal do not include Auckland Council.
The WDC moves comes after a new WDC-commissioned report into what three waters restructuring might mean for its people, in the wake of Government predictions on this count.
WDC in June became the first council in New Zealand to opt out of the Government’s multi-billion dollar Three Waters reform plans.
Council resolve on opting out has intensified with the new report, its investigation into the Northland-based entity the result.
WDC is one of New Zealand’s strongest-placed councils in terms of its three waters infrastructure investment and its financial position around that.
However, the government department playing a key role in the three waters reforms has hit back at WDC and its report.
“We know Whangarei [District Council] believes it is in relatively good shape compared to a lot of councils — at the moment. But we are talking about setting up a system that will safeguard our services for generations to come,” a Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) spokesperson said.
Mai said other councils around New Zealand should make sure they were robustly investigating local implications too. They would also soon have access to the WDC-commissioned report.
WDC’s stance comes despite the council standing to gain $133 million from the Government which includes significant deal sweeteners for them to join its Three Waters reform.
Mai said there was more to the reforms than the money.
She said the council’s new report clearly showed the costs and benefits for Whangarei put forward by the Government in its national restructuring plans, were not the case locally.
Government figures said under its three waters plans, Whangarei residents would pay $803 annually for their three waters services by 2051 — if WDC joined into amalgamation processes. It said if WDC did not join in, that figure would rise to $4055 a year.
Mai said that was not the case. The new WDC-commissioned report has been done by Castalia, an international company with offices in Auckland and Wellington that advises globally on infrastructure, resource management and policy in areas including water.
“The reform scenario is based on faulty assumptions and flawed analysis. The government has not shown with sufficient certainty to WDC that the claimed benefits of the reform scenario will materialise,” the Castalia report said.
Mai said other councils around NZ were considering the matter and urged robust investigations.
“This report has shown that the reform scenario is founded on unsound evidence and faulty
analysis. The promised benefits of reform are unlikely to materialise. There are risks to the Whangarei community from losing control of water services, and accountability of those tasked with governance to local customers,” the report said.
Mai said WDC’s report served only to strengthen council’s resolve around its provisional optout decision.
The DIA spokesperson has however, in response to the release of the report and the Mayor’s comments, said they were still to understand the basis of the claim in Castalia’s report.
“While we are still working to understand the basis of the claims made by this consultancy we can say that their earlier work on the reform proposals commissioned by Local Government New Zealand was found wanting by the joint central/local steering committee which includes [Local Government New Zealand] LGNZ representatives and mayors as well as officials,” a Department of Internal Affairs spokesperson said.
The Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS), which the Government used to put together its future water infrastructure and servicing cost estimates, had done this work using information provided from New Zealand councils’ own data.
WDC would continue to operate in the best interests of its people through any restructuring. That was why it had opted out of the Government’s proposal in June.
Considering its people would also be part of considerations in any Northland-based three waters entity.
She said FNDC and KDC would be doing the same for their people, with financial implications for all councils, even with the locally-generated proposal.
Mai said three waters costs would still increase under a Northland-based entity in line with higher expectations nationally around things like water quality.
It was a matter of looking at how the district and region best approached three waters in the future for the benefit of its people.