Metro Water plan gets Government’s tick of approval

Wednesday, 8 October 2025

The Government has approved plans to set up a new water service provider to take over Wellington Water.

The five Wellington region councils that own the new company – the city councils of Wellington City, Porirua and the Hutt Valley and the Greater Wellington Regional Council – submitted their Water Services Delivery Plan in late August, as mandated by the Government’s Local Water Done Well water reforms.

The new organisation , which has the working name Metro Water, would be able to borrow money on its own instead of relying on funding from its owning councils. It will officially begin operating on July 1 next year.

Metro Water’s foundation governance documents, including its constitution and partners’ agreement, will need to be approved by all five of its controlling councils later this year.

Meanwhile, the auditor-general has decided it would not launch further reviews into Wellington Water’s governance and procurement. The Wellington City Council officially called for the auditor-general to investigate Wellington Water in May after the conclusion of two damning reports.

In a letter to Wellington Water chairperson Nick Leggett on Monday, acting assistant auditor-general for local government Laura Cannon said the decision was based on previous reviews’ scope and findings, as well as the remedial work that Wellington Water had already carried out.

“However, we will continue to monitor developments and consider any new issues or information that arises, to decide whether those warrant further work,” she said.

“We expect [Wellington Water] to regularly report progress against the remedial actions it has put in place to address the value for money concerns raised.”

Leggett said Wellington Water was confident that it was on the right track.

“We have been fully transparent with the Office, upfront with the issues we’re tackling and the progress we’re making,” he said. “Many of the good changes already made are a direct result of our shift to a culture of listening and taking action.”

Campbell Barry, the chairperson of the Wellington Water Committee, said the auditor-general’s decision meant ratepayers and councillors should have confidence that the right decisions were being made to set Metro Water for success.