New water policies have been welcomed by Civil Contractors New Zealand, but its Chief Executive Alan Pollard says contractors are suffering from a lack of immediate work, despite the severe need for upgrades to water infrastructure
The key detail of the Government’s Local Water Done Well policies is that the New Zealand Local Government Funding Agency Limited (LGFA) can now lend to water Council Controlled Organisations (CCO) that are financially supported by their parent council(s).
However, there is a risk any new funding would go towards creating new organisational structures, rather than physically constructing and maintaining the country’s water networks, which should be the immediate concern.
New Zealand needs to overcome its chronic underinvestment in water infrastructure, yet many contractors currently have no forward work past their current projects.
Many of our contractor members are not receiving forward work programme updates, meaning they are unsure if they can continue. They have been asked to scale up capacity for a large amount of work repairing, replacing and upgrading water networks – so where is the work?
The construction of water networks has severely slowed, to the point where many civil construction businesses are at risk.
On the back of this announcement, councils must now prioritise their water construction programmes, or we will lose skilled businesses with water construction expertise. We must retain capacity and capability in the industry if we are to carry out the required work when it does come to market.
Councils now need to use any tools at their disposal to bring water work programmes to market.
Council-controlled water organisations (CCOs) play an important role but are often underfunded by councils and poorly understood by elected representatives.
If the CCO model is to be successful, they must be properly supported and funded to enable them to carry out their duties.
Better decision making is needed around replacing the country’s aging water networks, which are increasingly being patched and clamped rather than replaced.
Our members are concerned the system is becoming increasingly reactive, and they are being asked to scramble to fix leaks rather than receiving well-planned forward programmes of pipe replacement from clients.
Long-term funding also needs attention and moves to water meter installation are critical, not only to create a sustainable long-term funding model, but also as an opportunity to fill the gap in workflow in the short term to retain industry capacity and capability.
Contractors offer a unique practical perspective as the people conducting the physical works on the network for their clients in local government, and more early contractor engagement and representation at a decision-making and technical advisory level is needed for the reforms to be successful.
