Time For Masterton To Have Its Say On Water Future

Saturday, 22 March 2025, 8:43 pm
Article: Emily Ireland - Local Democracy Reporter

The future of Masterton’s water service delivery is now open for consultation, with two councillors voting against adopting the draft document this week.

Councillors Brent Goodwin and Tom Hullena disagreed with some aspects of the draft document, which was never released publicly.

They said it needed to be clearer about the impact price standardisation across the district would have on the average cost to Masterton water customers under a joint Wairarapa-Tararua model.

In the final document, which was published Friday, average costs for the Wairarapa-Tararua model with and without price stardardisation, plus costs for an enhanced status quo option were included.

Under a Wairarapa-Tararua model without price standardisation, Masterton users could pay on average $2246 in Year 1, $2305 in Year 10, and $2122 in Year 20.

With standardisation, Masterton users could pay $2486 in Year 1, $3620 in Year 10, and $3793.

This standardised price would mean savings for Tararua and South Wairarapa users at the cost of Carterton and Masterton users.

The consultation document said there was no requirement for water charges to be standardised across the districts.

“The Wairarapa-Tararua councils would prefer a joint CCO to first focus on operational improvements and financial sustainability before considering standardising charges and this would be part of the discussion between councils when forming the CCO, and by the CCO in the future.”

Under an enhanced status quo model where Masterton would deal with water services in-house and via contractors, Masterton users could pay on average $2193 in Year 1, $2513 in Year 10, and $3002 in Year 20.

In an introduction to the consultation document, Mayor Gary Caffell said the Government’s Local Water Done Well reforms were the biggest change in local government for decades.

“In this document we present our options for the way forward: our proposed option of working with our neighbours in Carterton, South Wairarapa, and Tararua in a new council-controlled organisation, and an alternative option of maintaining our existing Masterton District Council-only approach to water services, enhanced to meet the new regulatory standards.

“In both cases, water services will remain in public ownership - with assets being wholly owned by the council if it is to continue operating a Masterton-only approach to the delivery of water services, or owned through shareholding of a council-controlled organisation for the option of Wairarapa-Tararua.”

The consultation document said advantages of the Wairarapa-Tararua option included access to increased levels of funding and streamlined work programming and project management.

It was also the preferred option by iwi.

Disadvantages included having no direct council control over the management of water assets and how services would be delivered, and uncertainty around the board’s structure, price standardisation, and the programme of work.

Advantages of the enhanced status quo option included minimal disruption of day-to-day services and that the council would retain full governance and control over water assets, services, work programmes, and pricing.

Disadvantages included a lower borrowing capacity and that opportunities for economies of scale efficiencies would be lost.

The status quo model also did not align with the purpose and intent of the new legislation so may be subject to further legislative controls, driving up cost.

Visit mstn.govt.nz to view the consultation document and make a submission.

The consultation period would close on April 22 and hearings would be held on May 14 and 15.

Masterton District Council would make its decision on what model to progress on May 21 and would adopt a water services delivery plan to submit to the Government by September 3.

The approved approach would be established in the 2026-27 year.

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

© Scoop Media

Local Democracy Reporting

Content from the Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) service is published by Scoop as a registered New Zealand Media Outlet LDR Partner.