On 14 December 2022 the Water Services Entities Act made three waters reform the law. Two additional bills were introduced on 8 December and the public has until 12 February 2023 to make submissions on Water Services Legislation Bill on and the Water Services Economic Efficiency and Consumer Protection Bill.
Taupō District Council held a workshop last week for an update on the reforms. We cannot opt out of the Three Waters reform but we are keeping you informed on progress as there is high interest in it.
We are working hard to review both new Bills and will provide a submission to the Select Committee. Our position remains unchanged. We are opposed to the current model as:
- The pace of reform is rushed.
- The reform will result in a loss of local voice and local needs will be overlooked.
- The promised cost efficiencies are unlikely to be achieved.
- Councils such as Taupō that have made forward-looking decisions to invest in modern water infrastructure will be unfairly penalised.
Our concerns
We’re concerned that the reform fails on several key aspects:
Partnership: Our expectations of a genuine partnership will not be met. The new Water Services Entities have to talk with individual councils, but they don’t have to take into account what we have to say.
Policy: Councils’ priorities will be lost in the mix of directions being given from Government, mana whenua and the Regional Representative Group.
Planning: Decisions on growth and development may not be determined by councils.
Fairness: Water services entities will be exempt from paying rates unlike other utilities such as telecoms and energy providers. They will be able to charge councils for stormwater services but councils won’t be able to raise money to meet these costs (eg through stormwater rates).
Ability to create subsidiaries: Water services entities will be able to set up subsidiaries (smaller organisations that they will partly own). This raises questions around their purpose and level of oversight.
Stormwater: Council will retain some stormwater responsibilities, but the Bill strips out Councils’ powers to give effect to these. The recent flooding highlights the need to get this right.
If you want to make a public submission on either of these two bills, it is due by Sunday 12 February. Click here to make a submission on Parliament's website.
