Wairoa District Council has joined the other three Hawke’s Bay territorial authorities to develop a business case as part of the Government’s new Local Water Done Well plan.

In supporting the continuation of the joint Hawke’s Bay water work, local elected members want the business case to include Wairoa-specific arrangements. The council’s preferred option will undergo a peer review by Castalia, alongside a comprehensive peer review of the business case fundamentals, including economic, technical, cultural, and resilience aspects, as well as an evaluation of levels of service.

The business case development will evaluate the Hawke’s Bay water services delivery option – within council, council CCO (Council-Controlled Organisation) or a multi-council CCO - including a jointly owned regional water entity, which could bring benefits through scale that councils couldn’t achieve alone.

The business case will summarise key financial and non-financial impacts for each council and its ratepayers and provide a consistent basis for councils to make an informed decision on a preferred delivery model- ahead of public consultation.

The four Hawke’s Bay councils have been assessing the current state of their respective water services, along with their ability to deliver the investments that will be required in the future under what will be much more stringent regulation.

The government’s new regulations focus on ensuring suitability of water operations and are expected to require investment levels beyond what current Long-Term Plans and borrowing limits provide with early indications suggesting it will be challenging for councils to continue delivering water services ‘in-house’.

Wairoa Mayor Craig Little, says understanding local context and Wairoa specific arrangements is essential. “In Wairoa, Affco receives a reduction in its water rate based on the significant contribution it made to the town’s water supply. Without Affco, town water would be more expensive. We need to ensure this type of bespoke local arrangement is recognised in future planning.

“There is a lot of work ahead of us. We need to ensure that our community is part of any decision-making process and that there are proven cost savings, our local and institutional knowledge are retained, and that Wairoa has future service security.”

The next step for councils is to analyse the options on the table and decide which one will best serve their communities and meet legislative requirements.

The Local Water Done Well legislation is due to be introduced in December. Under the current workplan, public consultation on options is likely to occur early in 2025. Councils – either individual or jointly – must submit a plan for how they’ll deliver water services in the future to the Government by 3 September 2025 and have a plan for it to be implemented by 2028.

22 November 2024

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