Spotlight on options for the future of three waters service delivery

Hauraki District Council met today to un-tap the options to investigate for the future of three waters service delivery, as required by the Government’s Local Water Done Well legislation (LWDW).

Elected members unanimously decided to sign the Waikato Water Done Well Heads of Agreement (HoA) which will enable Council to investigate a sub-regional approach with other Waikato Councils, in parallel with the co-design of a wider regional model.

“We have the option of going it alone and continuing as we are, with an enhanced business unit to comply with expected regulations, or work in collaboration with our Waikato and neighbouring councils to get the benefits of scale; quality standards and resilience”, said Hauraki District mayor, Toby Adams.

What is the HoA?

The HoA is a non-binding agreement between participating Waikato councils to progress a detailed business case for a collective approach which could include joining with other councils to form a regional multi-council controlled organisation (CCO) or forming a single council water organisation.

“Based on the latest LWDW legislation all councils must explore a status quo option and at least two other options including collaboration, so we have big decisions to make and as importantly, our communities need ample opportunity to have their say on the options we present”, said Mayor Toby.

“Key to the success of any option will be the clear understanding of who will do what and when, who will own it and who will pay for it – once we’ve nailed that down, we’ll head out to our communities around March 2025 for a public consultation.”

Water Services Delivery Plan

All councils across New Zealand are also required to produce a water services delivery plan by September 2025, ensuring future delivery is financially sustainable and meets quality standards, as based on each Council’s preferred water service delivery model.

Hauraki District Council Chief Executive, David Speirs, said that Council staff are well on track for meeting the September deadline.

“Public consultation and decisions will feed into the Water Service Delivery Plan by June next year, so we’re confident of delivering a well-informed, well-structured and well-resourced plan on time for the Department of Internal Affairs’ September 3 deadline”, said Speirs.

“For now, it is business as usual for HDC staff, and you can be assured that we’re focused on making a decision to progress with a Water Services Delivery model that will have as little disruption as possible for staff and community”, he added.

Mayor Toby concluded that water infrastructure ownership will be a main consideration for local ratepayers.

“Essentially Local Water Done Well prioritises water asset ownership back with local councils, which is where we always believed it belonged.

The goal now is to work with our local and wider communities to find the solution that will serve this generation and many generations to come – what an opportunity we have in the mighty Waikato.

I encourage everyone to get involved in Council’s kōrereo in March and April next year”, he said.

Council decided to investigate the following options:

Council staff will prepare feasibility studies to report on the following options, noting that “Status quo with Regulation” is a mandatory option to investigate:

• Sub-Regional Council Controlled Organisation (CCO) (comprising HDC and TCDC)
• Sub-Regional CCO (comprising HDC, TCDC, and MPDC)
• Regional CCO (Waikato Water Done Well) (which would comprise participating councils from the wider Waikato region)
• Internal Business Unit transitioning to the Regional CCO between 2028 and 2030.

The Council also confirmed that it would:

• Provide delegated authority for David Speir, Hauraki District Council’s Chief Executive to approve investigation of additional options resulting from the Local Government (Water Services) Bill release, if required
• Retain stormwater in house and exclude it from further investigation; and
• Sign the Heads of Agreement to move to the next stage of Waikato Water Done Well.

Next Steps

The feasibility studies will be brought to a Working Party in February and final options presented to the public for consultation by the end of March 2025.