Whakatāne hits pause on joint water service consultation

Whakatāne has backpedaled on a decision to seek public feedback to form a joint water service with other Bay of Plenty districts.

Public consultation was to begin on Wednesday, but after the three councils Whakatāne District Council was working with all chose to delay consultation on a shared service or consult on a different option, it was announced on Tuesday the process would be postponed.

Whakatāne, Rotorua Lakes, Kawerau and Ōpōtiki district councils are investigating a potential joint water services council controlled organisation (CCO) for the future delivery of drinking water, stormwater and wastewater services.

All four councils made a commitment to the investigation as part of their Water Services Delivery Plans submitted to the Government last year, as part of the Local Water Done Well reform programme.

On September 17, the Whakatāne council voted to consult with the public on its preferred option of forming a four-council joint water service.

The consultation was to run from October 7 to November 9, with consultation documents already drafted and drop-in sessions scheduled.

The council expected to make its decision on November 25 after assessing public feedback.

Kawerau and Ōpōtiki district councils have chosen to pause their considerations while awaiting greater certainty around the Government's Simplifying Local Government reform process, which has since been paused, pending the outcome of November's general election.

Rotorua Lakes District Council voted late last month to go out to its community to consult on its preferred option of keeping its water services in-house.

Of the four councils, Rotorua had the largest average per-connection savings to be gained over the next 30 years, by forming a four-council CCO to deliver water services. The district stood to save around $216 per year compared to delivering its services in-house.

Whakatāne Mayor Nándor Tánczos said discussions with neighbouring councils were continuing.

"A Multi-CCO remains [Whakatāne] council's preferred option because it offers the greatest opportunity to deliver reliable, affordable and resilient water services for communities over the long term," he said.

"The consultation programme was developed around a four-council model. With Kawerau District Council and Ōpōtiki District Council pausing their considerations, we need to understand what that means before consulting our communities."

All four councils will continue to work toward establishing their own internal business units to deliver water services by July 1, 2027, as required under legislation.

This will separate all water service finances from other council activities and will be exempt from the Government's planned rates capping legislation.

A previously advertised drop-in session on Wednesday at the Edgecumbe Library has been cancelled and the council is still considering whether any further consultation dates will be scheduled in future.