Feedback low for Waikato Water Done Well

Monday, 9 June 2025

Ahead of councils’ biggest decision in a couple of decades, Waikato Water Done Well, submissions totalled little more than 100 for two councils.

It’s one of the biggest and most important decisions Waikato councils will have to make in decades but according to Hauraki mayor Toby Adams, “feedback has been average at best”.

The Hauraki and South Waikato District councils were two of the first cabs off the rank in terms of consultation on their Waikato Water Done Well (WWDW) proposals, however both councils received fewer than 60 submissions - far fewer than initially estimated.

“It’s either people don’t care, don’t understand, or there’s a high level of trust and they are happy with the process,” Adams said.

WWDW could see seven councils - Waipā, Matamata-Piako, Hauraki, Ōtorohanga, Waitomo, South Waikato and Taupō - form a council-controlled organisation (CCO) which will own, manage and maintain their drinking and wastewater infrastructure.

‘This is just the biggest decision we’ve had to make since 1989, and the lack of feedback is a worry,’ Hauraki District mayor Toby Adams said.

Consultation was conducted as part of the Government-mandated Local Water Done Well legislation.

Just 38 submissions have been received by the Hauraki District Council, and 54 in the South Waikato.

Both councils’ preferred option was to join the seven-council conglomerate, but feedback given to each council was quite different.

Hauraki’s feedback, collected between May 1 to 23, shows that 52% of respondents support the council’s preferred option of joining the CCO, with 39% opposing the move, and 8% unsure.

None of the respondents requested to speak to their submissions, so an extraordinary hearing meeting planned for June 6 was cancelled.

South Waikato mayor Gary Petley said locals gave ‘passionate opinions on both sides’.

In the South Waikato, 85% of locals opposed the council’s favoured option with just 13% in support.

Both councils are set to deliberate on those submissions, and make their final decisions at meetings scheduled for June 25.

According to a Hauraki District Council Audit and Risk Committee agenda for June 10, the “low level of public engagement in the consultation process was also noted as a potential issue, with staff acknowledging a risk that limited feedback may reflect either low awareness or public fatigue around water reform debates”.

“It seems to me that after talking to other councils, their numbers have been really average, at best,” Adams said.

“This is just the biggest decision we’ve had to make since 1989, and the lack of feedback is a worry,” Adams said.

The report also highlighted another risk in the WWDW process, “the possibility that not all councils in the WWDW group will choose the same water services model”.

“This could alter the structure and forecasts of the proposed joint arrangement.”

South Waikato mayor Gary Petley said considering the importance of the proposal he expected more feedback from locals, and he had read “some passionate opinions on both sides, and some robust feedback”.

“We acknowledge this is an important kaupapa and we need to make the right decision, not only for our generation, but for our tamariki and mokopuna to come.”

He said while most submissions acknowledged the preferred option would allow council to meet central Government’s requirements, and enable it to fund infrastructure, “there were also concerns around a number of issues”.

These included short term affordability, ownership of infrastructure, impact on employment in the district, and representation of individual councils within the proposed CCO.

“We will take into account feedback from the dozens who have made submissions while also considering the impact of the decision on the 25,000 people who live in our district,” Petley said.