Decision made on funding of Five Mile Bay water

Five Mile Bay residents will soon have the opportunity to access treated drinking water, following a Council decision this week on how it will fund the project.

During the development of the Long-term Plan 2018-28, Council voted to extend the Taupō water scheme to include Five Mile Bay. However, a decision needed to be made on how the work would be funded.

In September and October, Council asked the community for feedback on key funding issues for the project, with 54 submissions received. This week, Council deliberated on the funding of the project and made four key decisions.

Head of finance and strategy Alan Menhennet said councillors decided the usual connection fee charged to property owners who chose to join a water scheme would be waived for those who choose to connect at the time of construction, along with the headworks charge. Those who chose not to connect to the scheme would pay half the targeted water rate.

In response to feedback from submitters, Council also decided to split the cost of the capital works ($500,000) with Five Mile Bay residents charged $250,000 as a targeted rate over 25 years, and the remaining $250,000 funded by being spread across all ratepayers connected to the Taupō water scheme.

With these decisions now made, Council can move into planning for construction of the pipeline which will enable Five Mile Bay residents to connect to the scheme, should they wish to do so. This is currently planned to take place between February and April 2021.

The process and timeline for Five Mile Bay residents, including how they can advise council if they wish to connect, will be outlined directly to residents, by the end of the year.