Single vote decides Selwyn’s water service future

Thursday, 3 April 2025

Selwyn’s drinking water will be delivered and managed by a council controlled organisation.

A single vote has decided the future of Selwyn’s drinking and wastewater will be managed and delivered outside of the council.

Elected members voted six to five to move the district’s drinking and wastewater to a council controlled organisation (CCO) on Wednesday. The vote was done in preparation for the council to meet the requirements of the Government’s Local Water Done Well policy to address water infrastructure challenges.

Costs for the two waters will split from the council through a phased transition from July 1, creating a separate water rate. Stormwater delivery, management, and rating will remain in-house.

The decision is unpopular among 87% (371) of the 425 people who submitted during the consultation process, with the majority saying they wanted to keep the services in-house over the CCO .

The main themes of their concerns were increased borrowing and long-term debt to ratepayers, efficiency, and increase costs and bureaucracy.

Selwyn councillor Shane Epiha voted in favour of a council controlled organisation. (File photo)

Councillor Debra Hasson placed her vote on their concerns, stating the council could shift to the CCO option in the future, but for now, they had to listen to their community.

However, councillor Shane Epiha hinged his vote off of the “minority and the silent majority”.

He said the council’s water assets were in good condition now due to good decision making, but there was no guarantee that would continue in the future, especially after he experienced threats and bullying from some community members to vote against the CCO during the submission hearings.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announces that Three Waters will be replaced by the new government's Local Water Done Well scheme, which returns water management to local bodies. (Video first published February 12 2024.)

“[An in-house model] does work and can work here because of good governance, but we’re not going to be around here in the next 50-60 years, so who knows what will happen then. We need to make sure [water is] safe from bullies.”

Councillor Grant Miller said he could not see the benefit of moving the two waters outside of the council’s direct control and had to vote to keep delivery in-house to protect water from potential privatisation.

“A step to [a water services council controlled organisation] is a step ultimately to privatisation of water supplies in New Zealand,” he said.

“It’s been a very difficult decision, but I’ve come to the ultimate conclusion that the best interest of Selwyn ratepayers are serviced now and into the future by an in-house business unit.”

Selwyn District Council staff modeling shows the difference in ratepayers costs between keeping drinking and wastewater in-house versus managing and delivering the two waters via a council controlled organisation.

His comments earned applause from the gallery, and a correction from staff that the structure of the CCO prohibited privatisation.

Councillors Lydia Gliddon, Elizabeth Mundt and Bob Mugford voted against the CCO, citing ratepayers concerns of rising costs, uncertainty about the strength of the council’s control of the organisation, and the influence of the public over how water is managed and delivered in the future.

Under the modelling for the CCO, water rates would increase initially due to setup costs for the organisation, but are expected to flat line by 2029 and be cheaper than an in-house model by 2033.

Mayor Sam Broughton and councillors Sophie McInnes, Phil Dean, Nicole Reid, and Malcolm Lyall voted for the CCO to remove politicisation from decision making around water and enable the people with the most knowledge to make focused, generational decisions in isolation to the other responsibility of the council.

Mana whenua Te Taumutu Rūnanga, Te Rūananga o Ngāi Tūāhuriri and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu were in favour of the move, but had no voting power.