NEWS RELEASE

from Hutt City Council

12 December 2002

HUTT CITY COUNCIL SUPPORTS WATER INTEGRATION

Hutt City Council voted unanimously in support of a proposal to cooperatively manage Hutt City's and Wellington's water services.

"The proposal ensures Hutt City residents will continue to enjoy access to high quality water services and that ownership of all assets remains with the respective councils," said Mayor John Terris.

"Council's support for this initiative also demonstrates that we have listened to the concerns of the community, raised during consultation over previous proposals over things like ownership and privatisation, and have adopted a structure that will deliver cost savings to ratepayers in both cities."

A joint establishment unit will be formed and will report back to the two Councils with an establishment plan that sets out further details about how the Joint Management Unit will work.

"I want to recognise the effort put in by council officers who worked on the proposal. They deserve thanks for working extremely hard on developing a plan to jointly manage water services that has received such a high level of public support," said Mayor Terris.

Council appointed Deputy Mayor Ray Wallace and Councillor John Austad to the Establishment Unit.

"Hutt City already has very efficient water services. The joint management approach allows us to continue to deliver value for money to ratepayers," said Mayor Terris.

"We have signalled our support for the new approach - we now need to ensure that promised savings are delivered and the new Unit is given every opportunity to succeed."

"We also remain hopeful that other councils will see the benefits of joining with ourselves and Wellington."

ENDS

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