Water Reforms: Local Control Must Be Protected – Canterbury Mayors

Thursday, 13 March 2025, 7:04 am
Article: David Hill - Local Democracy Reporter

Two Canterbury mayors are worried about either losing control or local knowledge under the Government's new water reforms.

Waimakariri District Council wants to retain control of its water infrastructure, while Hurunui's mayor fears local expertise could be lost under proposed legislation.

Councils need to submit water services delivery plans for review by September 3 under the Government’s Local Water Done Well reform programme,

The Government’s new legislation aims to address the country's water infrastructure challenges and replaced the previous Government’s Three Waters Reform.

Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon said his council would prefer to retain its existing three waters business unit over establishing a Council Controlled Organisation (CCO), which could result in the council losing its decision-making ability.

Mr Gordon served as co-chair of Communities for Local Democracy (C4LD), which fought the previous three waters plan of establishing large entities to manage water infrastructure.

He said he was not about to relinquish control now.

‘‘We already have a chief executive and management staff, so why would we want to create a separate body to make decisions for us?

‘‘The work we did with other councils was about ensuring communities had a choice in how their water is managed and we feel this works best for us.

‘‘But we respect the position of other councils and the door is always open for shared services.’’

The Hurunui District Council supplies water to households in the Ashley and Loburn areas, while Waimakariri provides design and IT services to the Hurunui and Kaikōura council’s water units, Mr Gordon said.

Meanwhile, Hurunui Mayor Marie Black said she was concerned about a proposal in the Local Government (Water Services) Bill that prevented elected members from serving as directors on the board of a new water services CCO.

The Hurunui District Council is proposing to join forces with the Kaikōura District Council to form a joint CCO to manage local water services, in line with the Local Water Done Well legislation.

In her council’s submission, Mrs Marie Black proposed a legislation change to allow elected members and council staff to serve on local water service CCOs.

The provision was inconsistent with other clauses which require directors to have an appropriate mix of skills, knowledge, and experience in relation to providing water services, she said.

While independent directors can provide expertise not otherwise available, they could lack local knowledge, Mrs Black said.

Having local council and independent members would provide the right mix of commercial savvy, expertise in the provision of water services, and local knowledge, she said.

'‘This issue is of considerable significance for small rural local authorities due to the potential that some or all external directors may reside outside the district.

‘‘It is likely to take time for external directors to gain an understanding of the district’s water operations and of the characteristics of the Hurunui community.’’

Under existing legislation, elected members and council staff can be appointed to CCO boards.

The board of Enterprise North Canterbury, a CCO of the Waimakariri and Hurunui councils, includes both mayors and council chief executives.

Under the Government reforms, council-controlled organisations will be able to borrow for water infrastructure through the Local Government Funding Agency. The policy aims to ensure financial sustainability for water services.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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