By Chloe Ranford Local Democracy Reporter
Top of the south councils have been offered a combined $66.2 million to take part in the Government water reforms, which they can spend in areas such as housing and “community wellbeing”.
Councils in Marlborough, Nelson and Tasman have been offered the money as part of Government efforts to persuade them to join the reform programme that would see four large entities created to control infrastructure for drinking water, stormwater and wastewater.
It was part of a $2.5 billion sweetener put on the table by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during the first day of the Local Government New Zealand conference in Blenheim on Thursday.
She said most of the funds would be spent ensuring councils were “better off” for joining the reforms, by allowing them to invest in “local government, urban development, and the wellbeing of their communities”. The remaining $500m would make sure councils were “no worse off” while transitioning their assets to the new bodies.
Ardern said the Government understood reforming New Zealand’s water assets might harm the balance sheets of some councils.
Just over $23m of the $2b fund would go to Marlborough, with Nelson and Tasman receiving $20.7m and $22.5m respectively. The funding was based on both population and deprivation.
It comes on top of the $1.05b already committed to the three waters reforms, triggered after contaminated drinking water left a third of Havelock North’s residents sick with campylobacter in 2016, possibly leading to three deaths.
Joining the reforms remains optional, but the Government has warned councils that without them household water bills could be as high as $9000 a year in 30 years.
The figures were not enough to convince some councils, like the Whangārei District Council, which had already said it would provisionally opt out. Auckland Council is also sceptical.
Marlborough mayor John Leggett, who has previously signalled he would give full consideration to opting out, also remained unconvinced after hearing the Prime Minister's offer.
“We’ve been asked to be bold and brave when it comes to the three waters reforms … I don’t need people on stage telling me to be brave, we need good information to make an informed decision,” he said.
“I said when this first started that we need to be kept informed, and I stand by that. A lot of information is being drip-fed to us, instead of given all at once.”
Nelson Mayor Rachel Reese told the conference she was “fairly sceptical” when she first joined the three waters steering group, but now thought the reforms would deliver “significant” opportunities for New Zealand.
“I know some [mayors] have said, ‘just give us some more money, and we’ll fix the problem’. If only it was that easy. I can say to you that would be an expensive and temporary solution that our ratepayers and taxpayers, our communities cannot afford. We need a new system.
“For years we've said the status quo is not viable. This government made a commitment to work with us to deliver our three waters system and that commitment has been honoured.”
Tasman District Mayor Tim King said it was too early to say what this new incentive meant for Tasman, but it would be “factored into the discussion” the council had with ratepayers.
“There’s going to have to be a lot of discussion about exactly what it means – it’s about the starting point,” he said.
King said that while the conversation had “jumped very quickly to who is going to own it”, the discussion needed to be had about what the $120-$180 billion estimates for fixing New Zealand’s water systems meant for each region.
“That's what we need to understand fully, and that's the discussion we need to have with the community. Obviously the Government has provided this new incentive, and that will have to be factored into the discussion.”
Under the proposed water reforms, Blenheim and Richmond could be lumped in with a largely North Island water entity covering from Wellington to Gisborne, while Seddon and Murchison could be tied in with the rest of the South Island.
Cabinet papers showed Marlborough and Tasman could be split between two water entities to align with iwi boundaries.
Maps suggested Marlborough and Tasman were the only councils to have their water assets divided between two entities.
Councils at the top of the south were due to consult its residents later this year on whether it should sign its assets over to the entities, or keep them.
The Department of Internal Affairs was due to release more information over the coming weeks to encourage councils to join the reform, including a closer look at boundaries.
Improving water infrastructure was expected to grow the economy by between $14b and $23b over the next three decades, and create between 6000 and 9000 jobs.
A joint-statement between Local Government New Zealand and the Government acknowledged the need for the reform and said it would work best if all councils bought in.
