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RNZ News
08-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Marlborough votes to establish separate water organisation
By Kira Carrington, Local Democracy Reporter The Marlborough District Council has decided to establish on a standalone water organisation to deliver services from 2026. File photo. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King The Marlborough District Council has voted to establish a separate organisation to deliver water services in the region. The decision to form a Water Services Organisation (WSO) was passed by eight votes to five at an extraordinary council meeting on Monday. The government's Local Water Done Well policy required councils to come up with a financially sustainable water service delivery plan by 3 September. Mayor Nadine Taylor said it was an incredibly 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," Taylor said. "By setting up a new, water-focused organisation, it will be easier to sustainably deliver efficiencies and savings for residents on council's drinking and wastewater supplies." During consultation with the Marlborough community, a slim majority of the roughly 45 submissions wanted a water delivery unit to stay within the council. And some councillors agreed. Defeated councillors Brian Dawson, Deborah Dalliessi, Allanah Burgess and Sally Arbuckle all said there was not enough information to convince them that a separate water services organisation could deliver services better than the council's in-house unit. The Marlborough District Council was in the minority for its preference of a standalone organisation, although not all councils had voted on it yet. Of New Zealand's 65 territorial authorities, only three have preferred a standalone WSO - Selwyn, Queenstown Lakes, and Marlborough. Nearly 68 percent, or 44 councils, preferred a multi-council organisation, joining up with neighbouring districts to deliver water services. The remaining 18 preferred to keep water services in-house. A WSO joining Tasman and Nelson services was briefly floated, but was shelved after Nelson mayor Nick Smith ruled out collaboration on water without a full Nelson-Tasman council amalgamation. Nelson and Tasman both eventually voted to keep their water services in-house, leaving Marlborough without a neighbour to join with. Marlborough is among the 4.6 percent of councils that preferred a standalone WSO. Photo: Supplied Taylor said having a separate organisation focused solely on Marlborough's water would keep the service in the hands of the experts who knew it best. "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," Taylor said. Removing water assets from the council books would free up resources to focus on other services, while allowing the new WSO to borrow against those assets at a lower cost than the council could. "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," she said. The organisation would be council-owned, the board of directors would be council-appointed, and its direction would be set with a legally binding Statement of Expectations. The governance setup would keep the organisation accountable to Marlburians, the council said. The council said any profit made from the WSO would be reinvested back into the water network. By 2034, Marlborough would need $410m of investment in water infrastructure. Nearly all the townships required upgrades to pipelines, pump stations and wells. "Many of Picton's and Blenheim's stormwater assets have an expected life of less than 10 years," Taylor said. "In addition we have requests from the community to provide new water reticulation services, for example in Ward, Rarangi and Dry Hills in Blenheim." The new organisation would be established on 1 July 2026, and become fully operable by 1 July 2027. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Scoop
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Hurunui Council Sets Direction For Water Services Delivery
Hurunui District Council has set a direction for how its water services may be delivered in the future. Councillors on Tuesday voted in favour of water services being delivered through the preferred structure of a joint Water Services Council Controlled Organisation (WSCCO) with Kaikōura District Council. Consultation was undertaken from 20 March to 21 April 2025. A total of 53 written submissions were received, with 25 favouring a WSCCO and 23 favouring an in-house water services business unit. Five submissions didn't indicate a preference. Following this week's decision, Council will work on a Water Services Delivery plan, which will be submitted for approval to the Department of Internal Affairs by the deadline of 3 September 2025 under the government's Local Water Done Well reform. Hurunui Mayor Marie Black said it was a moment of significance for the district, with the proposed changes having an effect over the next 20 to 30 years. Hurunui Council CEO Hamish Dobbie said Kaikōura District Council will decide on its preferred option on 28 May 2025. "If Kaikōura District Council decides not to go ahead with the proposed joint WSCCO, the matter will go back to our Council for further deliberations,' Dobbie said. Mayor Black called it 'a brave new world' and said there were strengths and weaknesses to both options presented to councillors but it was beholden on councillors 'to be as influential as possible to future-proof the service delivery model our district deserves and which it has supported for a number of years'. Cr Pauline White, in voting in favour, called it a 'heavy decision. I will be pushing for us to have local voice as to how governors are selected.' Mayor Black said she had been impressed by the depth of knowledge contained within the community's submissions and acknowledged the magnitude of the decision that 'fundamentally may change how the service is delivered but not the quality of service'. 'The volume of submissions received indicated the willingness to get involved and demonstrate you care for the community,' Mayor Black said.
