The leaky city

Thursday, 18 January 2024

OPINION: Wellington City Council, this is your chickens coming home to roost.

While Wellington bakes in atypically warm weather, the city’s leaky pipes have been merrily spewing out thousands of litres of water a day - even while the capital’s residents are asked to conserve water and we are warned that it may not be long before we are restricted to two-minute showers.

The frustration of residents was palpable yesterday; there was a steady stream of photos and tipoffs about leaks to us at news@thepost.co.nz.

Yes - Wellington City Council has allocated tens of millions of dollars to fixing the leaks. But Wellington Water, which does the work, says there’s still a massive shortfall. And when it asked for a $10 million top up to keep on top of the leaks last year, the council slashed that back to $2.3 million. That was despite the pleas of councillor Nicola Young and others to give Wellington Water what it needed to do the job.

The council’s finance committee chair Rebecca Matthews sanctimoniously suggested it was because they weren’t persuaded Wellington Water could deliver.

So here we are, nearly a year down the track, facing an entirely predictable crisis.

That missing $7.7 million is, of course, a drop in the bucket. And to be fair the history of failure goes back years. Critical infrastructure has been neglected in favour of “nice to have” projects by successive councils. They have left the capital with a massive infrastructure deficit and a bill for billions of dollars over the next 10 years.

But a top up might have at least helped plug the leaks for as long as is needed to stave off stricter water restrictions that could prove crippling to some businesses and more than just a minor inconvenience to households.

We’ve been badly let down.