Council survey results on three waters

Thank you to everyone who took part in council’s online survey on the Government’s proposed Three Waters reform.

Three Waters involves how we as a nation will manage drinking water, wastewater and stormwater into the future, for the benefit of all.

As part of our feedback to Government at the end of this month, we asked the community to share their thoughts on these reforms – with 587 people responding to the survey.

From this, we have established that:

• 44% felt poorly informed or not at all informed
• 64% felt it was extremely important that local government continued to deliver the three waters
• 32% of respondents would be prepared to pay more for councils to continue to deliver three waters
• There is a recognition that benefits can be achieved through economies of scale but a fear of substantially escalating infrastructure costs
• There is a strong sense of ownership of local assets and a corresponding concern about losing local influence, particularly when it comes to making sure that water infrastructure is in place to support growth aspirations
• There is a feeling that the reform process is undemocratic and seems to be driven by a predetermined set of outcomes. People feel like they have not had a chance to voice their views.

Thank you everyone for your feedback - we have taken it fully on board in our draft submission to Government, which will be decided on at Tuesday’s council meeting at 1pm. With Covid restrictions and social distancing requirements, the best way to watch this meeting is online via taupo.govt.nz/meetings.