Taupō opts out of Waikato Water Done Well - for now

Thursday, 26 June 2025

Taupō deputy mayor Kevin Taylor said if it were not for many years of investment into its water infrastructure, Taupō would not be able to run its services in-house. Photo/File

Taupō District Council has hedged its bets on Government imposed water reforms, opting to go with a fully in-house organisation to run its services - at least until 2027.

At a meeting on Tuesday, a majority of councillors voted to keep water services in-house for now, with an eye on joining the multi-council controlled organisation (CCO), Waikato Water Done Well (WWDW) in future.

In a statement, the council said retaining the status quo was not an option under the Government’s Local Water Done Well reforms, and consulted on three possible options for its water services.

Councillor Duncan Campbell voted against taking water services in-house, preferring his own version of a council-controlled organisation. (Photo/File)

They were the council’s preferred option - to retain water services in-house but in a separate business unit - and review in two years.

The second option was to join six other councils in WWDW, and option three was to set up a single CCO.

“Of the 220 community submissions received, 74% favoured keeping council services in-house for the time being,” the council said.

“Under this option council would continue to deliver water services, own all its water assets, and make all water-related decisions.”

Common to those submissions were concerns over the future control and ownership of local water infrastructure, and local accountability.

However, councillors agreed to join WWDW as a limited shareholder for some shared services, such as procurement.

The terms of the draft agreement allow Taupō District Council to remain involved while safeguarding the option to join WWDW at a later date.

Councillor Duncan Campbell was the only dissenting voice offering up his own version of a Taupō-only CCO - similar to an option put forward by staff - that he said would be an “independent, accountable, tightly-designed” CCO, which “could bring real transparency and public oversight”.

“We’ve had more debate over whether to fell a tree,” he said in a social media post after the meeting.

Councillors were told that under every scenario, the cost to ratepayers was expected to rise due to new economic compliance required by the Commerce Commission, and enforcement of higher water standards by the water regulator Taumata Arowai.

Staff said to date, the council had spent more than $500,000 on work involved in developing the various options, its Water Services Delivery Plan, and forming an in-house business unit.

Deputy mayor Kevin Taylor said “we wouldn’t be in the position we are in, and having the options we’ve got, had it not been for many, many years of prudent decision-making and wise investment”.

Councillor Rachel Shepherd said she favoured the in-house model because it was “quite separate” and with financial separation “being held at arm’s length”, and “we are best placed to make those decisions locally”.