It’s coming down the pipe. October 30 was the deadline for district and regional councils to decide which cosy partnership would best serve their ratepayers’ water needs for the next tens of years.
If initial cost and pricing estimates hold up, a 10-combo Water Services Council Controlled Organisation (WSCCO) has won the race hands down – at least on initial price estimates for providing Local Water Done Well under the government-mandated three waters changes.
Price estimates put to a workshop in Martinborough last month for an average annual household water bill were:
- South Wairarapa/Carterton stand-alone water entity: $7,000 a year by 2035;
- “Wai+T” (three Wairarapa councils plus Tararua grouping): $5,000+ in South Wairarapa and Carterton, $2,000 in Masterton, $4,000 in Tararua by 2035;
- 10-council group (Horowhenua through to Masterton): $4,300 by 2035, dropping to $2,600 longer-term.
The cost of achieving those 10-council prices: investment of about $17 billion over 25 years.
Dougal List, who presented the 10-council combined Wellington regional model at the workshop, said the cost estimates shared with councillors were indicative only.
He asked the room: “What do the public want? Affordable water, water in public ownership, and accessible water.”
The good news from List was that Kapiti and Greater Wellington are the two members of the proposed entity which don’t have outdated water pipelines and significant wastewater problems.
Bills for water would come not from the local council, but separately and directly from the proposed WSCCO. “It (the water charge) won’t be in the rates bill,” he said.
South Wairarapa councillor Alistair Plimmer said councils are already charging ratepayers “the upper limit of what is affordable.”
“If you’re talking about (bills) going up more, at what stage does it become absolutely ludicrous because people can’t even afford it. If you are going to force people who can’t afford to pay for this (extra) $3,000 to $6,000 a year – people will lose their homes over this,” he told the meeting.
“I think we need to stop using the term ‘affordability’ because people are watching this presentation and saying, ‘affordable? My arse it’s affordable. It’s not’,” he added.
Iwi and hapu representatives said when the 10-grouping modellers would accept only one Wairarapa Iwi representative – despite there being two Wairarapa Iwi – they realised they could lose their voice at the table.
List responded, noting an entity spanning a number of rohe and Iwi will “need a range of relationships at a range of levels.”
One Iwi member said the entity “will need to build on, and honour, current relationships.”
System resilience to major weather events would likely be improved because the new structure will provide the capacity to deal with the event through its planned debt level increase, a Department of Internal Affairs representative told a questioner. This will provide “a real resilience option.”
Following the October 30 decisions, councils will consult communities to determine a water services delivery plan, which must be presented to government next year. Further legislation (known as “Part 3”) will be passed before the changeover to the new entities begins.
