Northland's biggest water services changes kick off in Whangārei
Whangārei District Council (WDC) yesterday voted to set up a Northland-wide council-controlled organisation (CCO) as part of the Government's Local Water Done Well change requirements.
The decision was a major milestone,
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NZ Herald
5 hours ago
- NZ Herald
How outgoing Whanganui council boss David Langford reflects on his tenure
'In the words of Leslie Knope from (NBC sitcom) Parks and Recreation, when they shout at me, it's just them caring really loudly.' Langford said the past five years for local government had been intense, mostly due to the amount of change imposed on the sector, such as Three Waters and Local Water Done Well reforms and the Government's plans to replace the Resource Management Act and Building Control Authority. 'Councils that come out the other side are going to look very different, and they are going to have to figure out their purpose and role in supporting the community,' he said. 'As New Zealand, we are one of the most centralised systems of government in the whole of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). 'Our Government spends 93% of all taxes, and I think the average across most high income countries is more like a 70 (central) 30 (local) split.' He said Government conversations around rates capping and focusing on the basics sounded good, but 'what does that mean?'. 'Almost all our rates' money is spent on core services already, and the bits that aren't are the bits people really care about and fought to keep. 'We fund the Christmas Parade, and give $100,000 a year to surf lifesaving to help them patrol the beaches and keep our kids safe. That's not core services. 'If we put caps on rates, these are the things that will get hit.' The council achieved an average 2.2% rates rise for 2025/26, the lowest in the country. David Langford (left) with Sarjeant Gallery director Andrew Clifford. That was the culmination of the past 3.5 years of work, he said. 'The foundations we've laid here are going to serve the community well. 'Whoever comes in to replace me will like some things I've done and change some of them as well, but, hopefully, they'll keep the momentum going.' Langford said he would be disappointed if the district did not have the lowest rates increase next year as well, while still increasing investment in core infrastructure. There was an 11% increase in the council's infrastructure spend for 2025/26. A major part of the council's role was 'building things', whether it be fixing potholes or putting pipes in the ground, he said. 'There are a lot of armchair engineers out there, but it comes with the territory. 'Anybody who's watched an episode of Bob The Builder thinks they know how to do my job better than I do. 'Like I said before, if you're not up for the criticism, and you're not prepared to rise above it, this job is not for you.' Langford said challenges still lay ahead, such as the future of the NZ International Commercial Pilot Academy. The facility is under investigation by the Civil Aviation Authority, although four planes have returned to service. 'It delivers around $10 million of GDP into our economy, but the goal was also to get a business paying landing fees at the airport, so the ratepayer doesn't have to subsidise it as much. 'The intention was always to get it set up as an investment, and once it's running, sell it. 'Now's the time to hand it over to the private sector, but make sure we keep those benefits.' He said his proudest achievements was forming a citizens' assembly - 'a bold move' - to tackle the future of outdoor swimming in the district, including the Whanganui East pool. The assembly presented two recommendations at a council meeting this month, although the issue was left on the table until August 12. 'There's a heap of lessons we've learned and when council does the next one, it'll be a bit slicker and even better,' Langford said. 'For me, it was seeing the community step up and make the most of the opportunity, and really get engaged with an issue they care about.' Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.
RNZ News
21 hours ago
- RNZ News
NZTA has not developed national tolling plan
State Highway 16 full of slow moving morning traffic as the sun rises. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly The New Zealand Transport Agency / Waka Kotahi says it has not developed a national tolling plan but is working on a strategic network assessment. On government orders, the agency will be using tolls more to pay for roads. Internal documents in April said managers were going to develop a National Tolling Plan for the agency's board. But Waka Kotahi, in a response to a request under the Official Information Act, said no plan existed, and instead it briefed the board last month about being more strategic. "We are changing our tolling assessments to cater for a broader system network perspective... to provide decisionmakers with a more strategic, system-wide consideration of tolling the network," said the update in June. It was doing tolling assessments of all dozen or so roads of national significance in the works, including the Northland corridor to Whangārei, Mill Road in west Auckland and Tauriko West near Tauranga. "Due to data and modelling complexities associated with modelling tolling proposals for each section of the Northland Corridor, a proposal will be made to the board on the whole corridor" by the end of this year. An expensive overhaul of tolling technology had been going on for several years, however, the national manager of system design told RNZ an update on tolling tech has not been presented to the board.
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
‘Scary' 30% rates rise on cards
Councillors hear an update on Local Water Done Well proposals at a workshop this week. PHOTOS: ANDREW ASHTON Ratepayers could face a "scary" 30% rates rise in just two years if the Waitaki District Council's plans for an in-house water services unit are accepted. That was the stark reality laid out for councillors at a workshop this week to plan how to move forward from a decision two weeks ago to opt out of a joint water entity with three other Otago councils. Mayor Gary Kircher said he and the rest of the council were committed to making the best of that decision, which now involved sending a draft plan to the government by the end of July, before a full water services delivery plan (WSDP) was presented to the Department of Internal Affairs in September as required by the government's Local Water Done Well legislation. "We have to make sure that we do set up our in-house option as best as possible and I won't tolerate anyone undermining that." However, the size and cost of that was put into perspective by two Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) representatives at the workshop. They reiterated their points from a previous meeting that the in-house model would have to meet the government's financial stability rules for a period of 10 years, even if the plan involved a joint venture with other authorities before then. The in-house model would have to stand on its own merits for a 10-year period for assessment purposes. If those rules were not quite met, a facilitator could be appointed to work alongside the council to help the plan meet the targets. Department of Internal Affairs representatives Marlon Bridge (left) and Warren Ulusele at the workshop. The other, "more intrusive" option was to send in "the specialist", DIA representative Warren Ulusele said. "That person is appointed in the council, they make decisions on behalf of the council. They can look up across the council finances, potentially look to redirect funding from other purposes and redirect it back into Three Waters investment. "They can look at the revenue streams and determine that they need to go up. So I point that out, not in a threatening way, but just to be absolutely clear about this conversation around control and that's concern, again, not just this council, consultation across the country and it's understandable. "That person is appointed by the minister with one objective and that is to develop a financially sustainable plan. They will look to do that as quickly as possible and their focus is meeting growth. So they're not looking across the range of responsibilities you have, the range of considerations you have." WDC chief financial officer Amanda Nicholls then laid out the council's finances saying they would look "scary" at this stage of the process, pointing out external debt per rateable property would significantly exceed the benchmark of $4000, while debt continued to grow over the years. However, it would require a rate rise of about 25.61 % in the 2028 LTP year to fund the in-house unit, and then rate rises of about 4% for each of the following years. All those rises and the 2028 rise could also increase by a further 5% if the council, as was likely, was required to fund depreciation of water assets. When it came to council debt, the workshop heard the WDC would breach its debt cap in 2035 and every year thereafter, potentially requiring further rate rises to lower it. Two weeks ago, Waitaki district councillors voted to exit the Southern Water Done Well partnership with Clutha, Central Otago and Gore in favour of an in-house water services delivery unit. The joint arrangement was previously the council's preferred option before it was put to public consultation. Public consultation across the four councils drew in over 1000 submission with the in-house business unit model the preferred option in Waitaki (54%) and Clutha, while only 26.7% supported the joint entity, most popular in Gore and Central Otago. Prior to that the Department of Internal Affairs said joining a four-way, multi-district water company was the "only viable option" for the district. The DIA representatives this week said they had heard nothing to allay their "concerns" over the council's chosen path, saying they could not see a pathway for the council to develop a plan that was credible. "Hopefully, it'll come to light as you uncover more of what information discloses as you put more of the facts into the equation." The council intends to hold weekly public workshops, videos of which will be posted on its website, every Tuesday this month to keep people up to date with progress. A recording of this week's meeting, with chapter points for each section, the presentation given by the council's finance team, and the letter from the DIA are all available on the council website. "Council encourages the community to watch the videos, read the presentation and the letter from the DIA to be fully informed about the development of the WSDP," a council statement said.
