
Hellen Swales Announces Candidacy For Mayor In The 2025 Local Body Elections For Upper Hutt
As a passionate advocate for value-driven services, Hellen emphasises transparency and accountability within the council. "I will ensure our council focuses on value for money in the services it delivers, demonstrating this through clear communication with the community," Hellen stated.
Her goal is to secure the council's long-term financial sustainability by effectively managing debt, funding essential services, and limiting non-essential/vanity projects.
Aligned with the ongoing 'Local Water Done Well' initiative, Hellen is committed to advocating for affordable water solutions that truly benefit the community while ensuring transparency in the council's considerations. "It is crucial that we prioritise our communities' needs and work towards solutions that are both effective and sustainable," she added.
Hellen believes that listening to the community is vital for the council's success. By acting on Community Survey results and sharing improvement plans, she aims to respond effectively to community priorities and concerns. "Building trust with our community starts with understanding their needs and communicating our plans clearly," Hellen emphasised.
To foster engagement, Hellen plans to re-evaluate the council's communication strategies and channels. By establishing focus groups cantered on key areas like the economy, environment, and upcoming legislation, and enhancing community involvement in decision-making processes.
As an active member in our community for many years, Hellen sees a need and a desire for a stronger community voice and hence her goal is to establish a stronger community relationship which can be involved at the right time to drive community outcomes.
Furthermore, Hellen will establish Key Performance Indicators for Councillors and the Chief Executive, ensuring accountability through annual reviews and sharing the results with the community. 'It's essential that we hold ourselves accountable to the people we serve,' she remarked.
Hellen Swales invites all Upper Hutt residents to join her in this journey towards a more transparent, accountable, and community-focused council. Together, we can build a stronger future for Upper Hutt.
Hellen believes working together will provide Upper Hutt the change we need and the voice it deserves.
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Scoop
8 hours ago
- Scoop
Hellen Swales Announces Candidacy For Mayor In The 2025 Local Body Elections For Upper Hutt
Upper Hutt, 7th July 2025 – Hellen Swales proudly announces her candidacy for Mayor in the 2025 Local Body Elections for Upper Hutt. Committed to enhancing community engagement, ensuring fiscal responsibility, and prioritising residents' needs, Hellen aims to positively impact on the Upper Hutt community. As a passionate advocate for value-driven services, Hellen emphasises transparency and accountability within the council. "I will ensure our council focuses on value for money in the services it delivers, demonstrating this through clear communication with the community," Hellen stated. Her goal is to secure the council's long-term financial sustainability by effectively managing debt, funding essential services, and limiting non-essential/vanity projects. Aligned with the ongoing 'Local Water Done Well' initiative, Hellen is committed to advocating for affordable water solutions that truly benefit the community while ensuring transparency in the council's considerations. "It is crucial that we prioritise our communities' needs and work towards solutions that are both effective and sustainable," she added. Hellen believes that listening to the community is vital for the council's success. By acting on Community Survey results and sharing improvement plans, she aims to respond effectively to community priorities and concerns. "Building trust with our community starts with understanding their needs and communicating our plans clearly," Hellen emphasised. To foster engagement, Hellen plans to re-evaluate the council's communication strategies and channels. By establishing focus groups cantered on key areas like the economy, environment, and upcoming legislation, and enhancing community involvement in decision-making processes. As an active member in our community for many years, Hellen sees a need and a desire for a stronger community voice and hence her goal is to establish a stronger community relationship which can be involved at the right time to drive community outcomes. Furthermore, Hellen will establish Key Performance Indicators for Councillors and the Chief Executive, ensuring accountability through annual reviews and sharing the results with the community. 'It's essential that we hold ourselves accountable to the people we serve,' she remarked. Hellen Swales invites all Upper Hutt residents to join her in this journey towards a more transparent, accountable, and community-focused council. Together, we can build a stronger future for Upper Hutt. Hellen believes working together will provide Upper Hutt the change we need and the voice it deserves.


Scoop
9 hours ago
- Scoop
Council Votes To Establish New Water Services Organisation
Marlborough District Councillors today approved the establishment of a new water services organisation (WSO) to deliver drinking, wastewater and stormwater services to the people of Marlborough. The decision continues the Local Water Done Well process, as mandated by the current Government. Mayor Nadine Taylor said it was a very important decision for the region. 'We have decided to take a once-in-a-generation opportunity to do things differently to build better three waters infrastructure and provide greater intergenerational equity, spreading the costs over the long term.' 'The Government requires councils to financially ringfence their water services and by setting up a new, water-focussed organisation it will be easier to sustainably deliver efficiencies and savings for residents on Council's drinking and wastewater supplies.' 'Costs will be spread over a longer period of time through borrowing, leading to lower water charges when compared to retaining water services internally at Council.' 'Other notable benefits are the new WSO will have a singular focus on the delivery of water infrastructure and be better positioned to attract the specialist staff we will need in the future.' 'By removing three waters debt from Council's books, we will have an improved ability to deliver other key Council activities to support the Marlborough community, including responding to and funding unforeseen circumstances such as natural disasters.' Mayor Taylor noted that almost all of Marlborough's townships need upgrades to pipelines, pump stations and wells, with treatment plant upgrades required in Blenheim, Havelock, Riverlands and Awatere. 'Blenheim, Havelock, Riverlands, Seddon and Renwick also need wastewater upgrades. Many of Picton's and Blenheim's stormwater assets have an expected life of less than 10 years. In addition we have requests from the community to provide new water reticulation services - for example in Ward, Rarangi and Dry Hills in Blenheim.' 'While Council has done a good job of building and maintaining its current three waters infrastructure, a big step change is required if we are to face head-on the challenges of the future,' she said. 'This step change is best delivered through a new water services organisation.' Council received 44 submissions on its Local Water Done Well proposal. The WSO would be incorporated from 1 July 2026 with a one year transition to full operations from 1 July 2027. Marlborough District Council will be its sole shareholder, appoint its board of directors and set its direction via a binding Statement of Expectations, holding it accountable to the people of Marlborough. Council will also establish a water services governance and oversight committee made up of the mayor, the three committee chairs and chief executive. Notes The Government's Local Water Done Well process requires all councils to develop a Water Services Delivery Plan (WSDP) by 3 September 2025 which describes how drinking water, wastewater and stormwater services will be delivered in ways that are financially sustainable, meet regulatory quality standards, meet water quality standards and support housing growth and urban development. Other considerations include: • New ring-fencing rules that require water delivery services to be financially separate from Council's other functions and activities. • Water services being subject to new economic regulation and a consumer protection regime. • Access to the Local Government Funding Agency to help fund the needed investment in water infrastructure. By 2034, $410 million of investment is needed in Marlborough's water infrastructure. The renewal list for pipelines, pump stations, treatment plants and dams is considerable. About $45 million of water assets, $20 million of wastewater assets and $45 million of stormwater assets are due for replacement within the next nine years. The renewal profile will likely increase as assets built in the 1950s and 60s, including much of Blenheim and Picton's stormwater network, requires replacement over the next 40 years.


Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Joining CCO ‘only viable option'
As unpopular as it is with the public, the Waitaki District Council joining a four-way, multi-district water company is the "only viable option" for the district, an initial assessment by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) says. The Waitaki District Council is on the verge of a major decision that will shape how water services are delivered and paid for across the region, as it prepares to vote next week on whether to join a four-council joint water entity, Southern Water Done Well (SWDW). The proposed partnership would unite the water services of the Waitaki, Clutha, Central Otago and Gore districts into a single regional organisation, with a shared cost of $13.8 million for establishment. The DIA's report, made public yesterday, firmly recommends the four councils adopt this model in order to meet the government's Local Water Done Well reforms and sustainability requirements. Speaking ahead of Tuesday's formal vote, Waitaki District Council chief executive Alex Parmley acknowledged the public resistance but emphasised the urgency and necessity of the decision. "DIA has done an initial assessment of the options we were looking at. So they're going to mark our homework at the end of this when we submit our water services delivery plan and their assessment, which is going to be contained in the report, is that the joint CCO is the only financially sustainable option for the four councils," The assessment, included in the agenda for next Tuesday's meeting, states "the establishment of a Southern Water Done Well water CCO comprising of the four councils' water services is likely the only viable option for delivering a water services delivery plan that meets the legislated financial sustainability requirements for both water services and councils while managing the affordability impact of required water services charges on household budgets". Public consultation across the four councils drew in over 1000 submissions, 57.5% favouring the in-house business unit model, the preferred option in Waitaki (54%) and Clutha, while only 26.7% supported the joint-CCO, most popular in Gore and Central Otago. In the Waitaki district, the stand-alone CCO option was favoured by 21% of submitters, while the council's preferred joint CCO (SWDW) option was favoured by just 15% of submitters. However, Mr Parmley said the recommendation was about long-term viability, not short-term popularity. "A regional water CCO will result in lower charges for communities than council in-house delivery," the DIA assessment stated. Waitaki ratepayers can expect a 51% increase in water charges under the joint CCO, less than the projected 62% rise under an in-house model. Regardless of the model chosen, households will face higher water costs, and a key change across all options will be the separation of water charges from general rates. "A lot of the detail around what does this look like and what will bills look like. That's the stuff that still needs to be developed, but we need to get a decision first. "Whatever route we go down, we're going to need to separate out the water bill from the rates bill. The government said that needs to be clearly shown differently now and be produced as a separate bill." If approved, the SWDW constitution would guarantee that each district's water charges reflected its own costs — with no cross-subsidisation. "Waitaki is not paying for Central Otago's water and vice versa," Mr Parmley said. Governance of the CCO would be via a shareholder group where each council got one vote, regardless of asset size. Although Waitaki has more assets and would hold a larger shareholding, it would still hold only one vote in decision-making. Directors would be appointed jointly by the councils. The new company's constitution and shareholder agreement are still under development, including details around voting thresholds for future changes. Mr Parmley said the councils did not want to tie the company up so it could not decide anything, but for the most important things, all shareholders would need to agree. "That's about establishing that link between ownership, so it's clearly shown that we still own those assets and, if the company was to be wound up for whatever reason, those assets would come back." The joint-CCO's initial $13.8m establishment cost would be loan-funded, with each council responsible for repayment. Waitaki's portion would be loaned to the CCO and repaid over time, without being directly passed on to ratepayers via water bills.