Referendum on transferring Kāpiti water assets to new entity looms

Monday, 14 October 2024

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Kāpiti Coast could be compelled to hold a referendum on transferring its water assets to a new council-owned water entity set up by the Government’s water reforms.

Mayor Janet Holborow called it a “potential added complication” for the district council, which is working through the legalities around issue relating to standing orders.

“We’re talking to central government about potential legislative changes but at the moment, that seems like what we’re going to have to do,” she said.

The standing order clauses were brought in by then mayor Jenny Rowan’s council, when the district introduced water metering in 2012 to quell fears of privatisation from critics, who organised protests and delivered a petition demanding a referendum.

It mandated any changes to the district’s water assets ownership, whether it was taken over by a new joint local government arrangement or contracted all or some parts of the water service operation for up to 35 years, needed to be backed by a three-quarters supermajority of councillors present at a meeting and a referendum.

“Councillors, like many Kāpiti residents, are very sensitive about this issue,” said then corporate business committee chairperson and future mayor Ross Church at that time. “We want to lift the bar as high as possible to protect our water interests.”

Local Government Minister Simeon Brown said the Government was aware of the issue but councils were responsible for making and amending their own standing orders. He had encouraged Kāpiti include it in its submission on the upcoming Local Government Water Services Bill.

The water reforms aim to create new council-owned public water providers and amalgamate water services. They could borrow cheaper money through the Local Government Funding Agency (LGFA), of which 30 councils and the Government are shareholders.

The situation remained uncertain, Holborow said, and the Kāpiti Coast council was seeking legal advice about the implications of its standing orders referencing a referendum.

Including the Kāpiti Coast, the Wellington region’s nine councils and Horowhenua District Council are currently in talks to join their water services together.

A report released on Tuesday recommended a joint council-owned company to own all regional water assets, with a structure similar to a council controlled organisation (CCO) like Wellington Water but with less council oversight.

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