Call for community views on government’s proposed Three Waters Reform

Darren Petry from Taupō District Council

Taupō District Council is calling for the community to share their views on the future of three waters by completing a short survey at www.surveymonkey.com....

The government is currently proposing significant changes to the delivery of three waters (stormwater, wastewater and drinking water) including the creation of four publicly-owned entities to deliver these services. For the Taupō District, this would see us join with 21 other local council areas.

Every council has until late September to assess this proposal and the impacts on local communities.

Taupō District Mayor David Trewavas said while this is a government-led proposal, and council doesn’t have all the information, it is important to include community feedback at this stage in the process.

“This is about getting the conversation started. While formal consultation would be government-led, we think including your feedback at this stage is the right thing to do, as we believe our local voices are a key part of these reforms.

“What we do know is that compliance costs for water will increase significantly over time so a key consideration for us is whether we want to pay higher rates to keep ownership and control of our water assets or do we want to pay lower rates, by spreading the cost out across a wider area, but see the ownership and control of these assets sit with central government.

“The survey will allow us to better understand the community’s views on this balance of keeping costs affordable for households and retaining the delivery of three waters within council.

“This will also allow us to include our community’s views as a valuable part of what we take back to Government at the end of September,” Mr Trewavas said.

The survey closes on Wednesday 15 September to allow council time to review responses and incorporate into council’s formal response to the government’s Three Waters Reform proposal.

After this, the government has said they will consider next steps, including the process and revised timing for decision-making and consultation.

To fill out the survey please head to www.surveymonkey.com...

For more information on Three Waters you can head to taupo.govt.nz/threewatersreform or head to dia.govt.nz/Three-waters-review.