More councils could join the party with Rangitīkei to deliver water services

Friday, 23 May 2025

Rangitīkei District Council could now end up working with a larger group of councils in the Manawatū-Whānganui region to deliver its water services.

The Rangitīkei council’s preferred option had been a council-controlled organisation run with the Whanganui and Ruapehu district councils.

When the council consulted with its community, the possibility of working with as many councils as possible in the Manawatū-Whanganui region wasn’t possible as some other councils’ preference was for other models.

The Rangitīkei, Whanganui and Ruapehu councils were recently approached about working with Horowhenua and Palmerston North to form a larger entity.

Having 50,000 connections in a larger entity meant the councils could have greater savings through economies of scale. The model with Rangitīkei, Whanganui and Ruapehu would have had about 31,000 connections.

But Rangitīkei councillors voted unanimously on Thursday to continue discussions with the Palmerston North, Horowhenua, Ruapehu and Whanganui councils to establish a council-controlled water services organisation.

This was subject to being financially sustainability and if those other councils were willing to be involved.

The Palmerston North, Horowhenua and Ruapehu councils would decide what partners to work with in June, while Whanganui would make the call in July.

Rangitīkei mayor Andy Watson said at the meeting if Ruapehu and Whanganui wanted to join them he would welcome it.

He said it had taken a huge amount of work to get to this stage, but the decisions were going to ramp up further.

“That’s probably the most significant decision I’ve seen ever in the time I’ve been in council.”

He said Rangitīkei had good relationships with the other councils.

“This legislation is beyond personal relationships now. What we are looking at now is the position in 10, 20, 40 years out and that is where the focus has to be and there are no problems from the governance arm.”

Councillors spoke in support of the idea and believed the more councils they could work with, the better it would be economically.

They didn’t want to take the risk of being left out in the cold by themselves.

“The more people in the sandpit the better off I feel,” said councillor Brian Carter.

Work would continue to prepare a plan for the council-controlled water services organisation by September.

Discussions with the other councils involved would continue.