Mayor brands new three waters plan as ‘same model with a different dress on’

Wednesday, 14 February 2024

A West Coast mayor is warning that rates bills for drinking and wastewater alone could spiral by $1600 in just three years - a rise of more than 70%.

It comes as mayors in the region are divided over the Government’s new water plan, with one criticising it as being the same as Labour’s Three Waters plan but “with a different dress on”.

The Coalition Government announced it would restore council ownership and control of water assets by repealing Three Waters as part of its 100-day plan.

The plan involves appointing a technical advisory group and a implementing a new bill which would allow councils to choose to band together to establish “more financially sustainable” council-controlled organisations, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown said.

The council-controlled organisations would have greater debt-raising capabilities separated from council books, but there would be a back-stop for Government to step in if the organisations were failing.

But Buller mayor Jamie Cleine said the plan was “really problematic”.

“I accept responsibility for Three Waters is staying with council and that’s fine, but what it doesn’t solve is how that work will be funded. It absolutely means a substantial uplift in targeted water rates right through our long term plan.”

Buller District Council unsuccessfully sought funding for stormwater upgrades as part of a $55 million pitch to the previous government for flood protection.

Cleine said the stormwater issues in Westport exacerbated the flood risks to the town, but its small, static population could not afford the upgrades.

He estimated up to $50m was needed just to bring the district’s drinking water up to legal standards.

“Our water accounts are already all overdrawn. People in Westport are paying $2200 a year just for drinking water and wastewater. That will have to go up to $2800 in the first year, $3300 the next year and to $3800 the year after that,” he said.

Cleine also said West Coast councils had investigated setting up an amalgamated council-controlled organisation for Three Waters but found there was no advantage to ratepayers.

“It didn’t have the economies of scale so we would need to approach Canterbury or Tasman mayors. I am absolutely open to that but I am cognisant that we would be bringing an unpalatable business case to the table, and that doesn’t help in those conversations.”

Westland mayor Helen Lash said she was worried about what had been announced so far, and questioned whether it would be achievable for councils to fund big water projects without central government funding.

“To get borrowing power we would have to combine with Canterbury. More borrowing power means more debt. How do we service that debt? Ratepayers do,” she said.

“I did not support Labour’s Three Waters in any shape or form and this is the same model with a different dress on,” she said.

She said $1 billion had been wasted by both Labour on the reforms and by National in repealing them.

“If they’d used the $1bn wasted into an infrastructure fund we could have upgrades done. They forgot about the essentials. Putting it on ratepayers makes my blood boil very quickly,” she said.

Grey district mayor Tania Gibson said she was happy the Government was keeping its promise to repeal Labour’s reforms.

“We wanted to keep ownership of our water assets. We are in a good position. We have already spent and paid for $48m on wastewater over 10 years. We have installed three new drinking water reservoirs. That holds us in good stead,” she said.

About $17m for stormwater upgrades were currently being worked into council’s budget, she said.

“Other councils on the Coast are in a totally different situation and need other councils subsiding them. We feel for them,” she said.