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One Councillor continued his call from last year for stronger opposition on the Three Waters Reform, but was turned down.
At the Governing Body meeting on February 23, members approved council’s submission on the Water Services Legislation Bill and Water Services Economic Efficiency and Consumer Protection Bill.
Council submission highlights concerns around the transition to the new entity, land asset transfers, financial impacts and transferring stormwater functions.
Cr Wayne Walker called on Mayor Wayne Brown to take a harder stance.
Walker’s call followed a similar position last year when he and several other councillors voted against council developing a submission on the reform to avoid supporting it in any way.
“This dismembers the council in respect of taking a great deal of our responsibility around water away from us and I would suggest there is huge community opposition.”
Walker pointed to Christchurch City Council which, he believed, had “taken a stronger position” than Auckland.
Walker wanted to know “whether this council will embark on a more aggressive campaign which might involve promoting our stance more aggressively to the media and encouraging the public and various organisations to get behind us.”
Mayor Wayne Brown turned down Walker’s request.
“I think strategically at the moment we are playing quite a good game in the middle,” he said. “We have formally stated quite strongly at the front of this that we oppose, and we have got a lot of reasons for it. You have to have faith in the approach.”
He said his main question around the Three Waters Reform was about how Northland and Auckland would be better served operating out of a single hub.
Brown also said ‘the government is the government’ and with a majority “they can pass what they like”.
