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Kaipara District Council has joined more than a dozen other councils in a campaign to mobilise public opinion against the Three Waters reforms, in a bid to force the Government to pull the plug on the proposal.
However, councillors were split on the issue. A motion put before councillors to sign a memorandum of understanding to join the campaign was carried 5-3.
Those opposing the motion – deputy mayor Anna Curnow, Cr Mark Vincent and Cr Eryn Wilson-Collins – said the district could lose out if the campaign was successful and no Government investment was made into water infrastructure.
“Kaipara has a bad history in this area and [the reforms] would get us out of a pickle. Our water assets are not necessarily assets, they could be liabilities,” Ms Curnow said.
She said Mayor Jason Smith had been selected for a panel to provide feedback to the Government on behalf of New Zealand councils, and the campaign could preclude that.
But Dr Smith said that the Government had already breached “good faith” when it mandated forming a new entity which would control northern water assets, despite earlier saying councils would have a choice.
“It’s a wretched hot mess,” he said.
Dr Smith said the KDC was “still in the dark” about how the campaign would work because information had only been shared with current signatories. But he said ratepayers were so opposed to Three Waters reforms that he still supported joining the campaign.
Councillors Peter Wethey, Victoria Del La Varis-Woodcock, Karen Joyce-Paki and David Wills agreed. Cr Wills said he had “taken a bollocking” on social media for not showing a strong enough stance on the issue. The KDC was invited to join the campaign for a contribution of $15,000, but Dr Smith was able to bargain that down to $5000.
The campaign is being organised by Manawatu District Council Mayor Helen Worboys. So far, 19 councils have joined and several more are expected.
Ms Worboys says it is a “myth-busting campaign to counter government spin”, with the aim of rallying the New Zealand public against a mandatory reform model.
“The Government has conned the public into believing we have frogs and green slime coming out of the tap, and it hasn’t acknowledged councils which are doing well,” she says.
The consortium of councils is working on a draft declaration which could form the basis of a petition.
Meanwhile, Whangarei District Council, Timaru District Council and Waimakariri District Council, have applied to the High Court for a legal judgement on the definition of ownership.
The ruling would address claims by Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta that ratepayers would still own their water assets, despite the assets being controlled by a combined water entity with no direct accountability to the public.
Ms Worboys says Local Government New Zealand ought to be lobbying the Government on behalf of councils, but it is bound by an agreement not to criticise the reform. She says it signed the agreement in July when it was believed the reforms would be optional.
