Day of Democracy: Water, water everywhere and Waipā has a drink

Thursday, 20 March 2025

Waipā mayor Susan O'Regan, left, and council chief executive Steph O'Sullivan presided over Wednesday’s meeting where consultation was approved for Waipā’s version of Waikato Waters Done Well.

It seemed appropriate the heavens opened on the drought stricken Waipā district as councillors met to make “one of the biggest decisions” in their council’s history.

Now it’s up to locals to decide whether Waipā’s Waikato Waters Done Well policy is the right option for one of the fastest growing districts in the country.

And, with Waipa’s projected water-related infrastructure debt estimated to reach $230m by June 30, 2026, it could be the lifesaver they’re looking for.

Wednesday was a day of firsts, the first decent rain in months, the first time the Waikato Times visited for its Day of Democracy series, and the first time anyone has seen what Waikato Waters Done Well will actually look like in practice.

Councillors spent time praising the work of staff at what was described as a “bit of love fest” by mayor Susan O’Regan.

The question on ratepayers’ lips will no doubt be, “how much will this cost?”, and we’ll get to that momentarily, but suffice it to say, it will not be going down.

The Waipā District Council is the first council in Waikato, and perhaps in New Zealand, to approve consultation on the Government mandated Local Water Done Well legislation.

Councils need to develop water services delivery plans and submit them for Government approval by September 3.

The Waipā District Council will soon take its version of Waikato Water Done well to the people for consultation.

Waikato Waters Done Well will see seven councils - Waipā, Matamata-Piako, Hauraki, Ōtorohanga, Waitomo, South Waikato and Taupō - form a council-controlled organisation (CCO) which will own, manage and maintain those councils’ drinking and wastewater infrastructure.

Councils will transfer any debt for these services to the new CCO, but will continue to maintain and operate their own stormwater services.

Hamilton City and Waikato District councils are consulting on a proposal to form a separate CCO.

Councillors spent much of the meeting praising staff for their efforts in putting together the document which will form the basis for all councils involved in the project, and rightly so, as staff did all the work.

But councillors did apply their official rubber stamps, and in a unanimous decision approved it for public perusal in the coming weeks.

Councillor Lou Brown said staff had done an excellent job on the draft Waikato Water Done Well proposal and it was now up to councillors, and local media, to spread the word.

Mayor Susan O’Regan said it was inevitable costs would go up, but the new plan means they won’t go up as fast, or as much as they would have if water services remained in-house.

If Waipā’s water services remained in-house, ratepayers would be up for an average 7.7% water rates increase each year for the nine years of its draft long-term plan.

If the CCO option is approved, this would be an increase of 4%.

Waipā had budgeted $384m for water and wastewater for the next nine years.

Dubbed the “super seven” by O’Regan, those councils will soon be flooding their own districts with information relating to the plan, which if approved by locals and central government, should be at full flow by July 1, 2026.

She said details of how shares in the CCO would be divided between councils, and the CCOs overall budgets were still to be worked out.

Councillor Lou Brown said it was “the biggest decision this council will make, particularly in this triennium”.

He said it was now the councillors’ job to “get out and encourage the public to participate”.

Councillor Roger Gordon said while he had agonised over the details, he did not expect ratepayers to read the entire 20-page consultation document. His only regret was not being able to get ratepayer feedback before the consultation document was approved.

Councillor Mike Pettit said it would be important to involve local and national contractors in the conversation, as they would be the people doing the work.

He challenged them to come up with some new and innovative ways to implement the plan saying councils “did not want to be hamstrung by costs”.