Statement on Three Waters Reform, Mayor Graham Smith - 16 August 2021

Three Waters is now on many minds now that the National Campaign has been rolled out from Central Government and as a result I am constantly being asked for our position. Firstly, it’s important to note that 3 waters covers drinking water, sewers and storm water.

There has been a number of discussions around entities as we work through the concerns and how it will affect Mackenzie District Council (MDC).

From the outset, MDC laid down some important baselines which we needed resolved and while it’s difficult to deny improvement in New Zealand’s standard of drinking water across the country, we don’t have all of our questions answered satisfactorily. Our baselines are as follows:

1. Any entity developed must enable local representation and Council must not lose its ability to influence and represent our community.
2. Control over the price of water and pricing structures must ensure equity across the entire region.
3. The transfer of assets and debt must not negatively impact on Council’s ability to be a viable organization. This cannot be a reform by stealth.
4. Costs and management of our stranded assets must be considered and catered for.

Many councils have failing infrastructure and have maxed out their debt. I agree with Central Government that the present system is not working, and the issue is funding. The Government has set up a new water regulatory authority with legislation to mandate full compliance to a national standards and it’s case for change is to significantly improve safety, quality, resilience, accessibility and the performance of the 3 water services.

MDC was allocated $5 million and signed up to an MoU to share our data. All 70 councils signed into this with the money having to be spent on infrastructure. Ours is mainly pipe replacement in Twizel and sewer de-sludging.

All councils have had a dashboard prepared by DIA of their position however, it feels as though there are far too many assumptions being made which makes me nervous. MDC has invested maintained and improved infrastructure to date without debt. We have put our assets into the ground and now we have stranded community assets .

When told status quo is not an option we looked at a South Canterbury model with our neighbours, but this was rejected by DIA as there was not enough scale. Canterbury Mayors did its own study but again this was rejected. We have now been presented with a model that shows four entities for New Zealand and MDC is part of the one that covers most of the South Island.

We have been consistently told no Council will be worse off and we have the option of opting in or out. In Mackenzie we need to understand what the risks and rewards are of owning our infrastructure and ensuring the need to be consulted on. Are we prepared to invest as we meet the new regulatory standards? Can we achieve better community outcomes without reform? If it’s about price, what are the unintended consequences?

We will be having some local engagement sessions shortly and will keep you fully informed. I do have some concerns around the future of local government, and indeed democracy.