Rodney residents oppose Three Waters

Rodney residents have given a big thumbs down to the Government’s Three Waters proposal, a survey has revealed.

The survey was conducted by Rodney Councillor Greg Sayers and asked residents their views on the proposal, which would amalgamate all of Auckland’s water services (drinking water, wastewater and stormwater) with the water services of the Far North District Council, Whangarei District Council and Kaipara District Council. The proposal would create a new regional corporation to run the services.

The Government hopes the new structure will ultimately halve current water bills.

There were 2670 responses to the survey, with 68 per cent saying Auckland Council should opt out of the programme.

Respondents reacted especially sharply to the proposal for a representative group committee to set the strategic direction of the corporation, which would be 50 per cent comprised of elected councillors and 50 per cent mana whenua/iwi.

Eighty-three per cent of respondents disagreed with the idea of a 50/50 partnership with iwi.

Notes accompanying the survey said with five seats on the committee, Auckland would have 35 per cent of the votes, but would be contributing 92 per cent of the infrastructure assets and 90 per cent of the paying customers.

A further 71 per cent objected to the idea of Auckland subsidising water services for smaller councils in the north and 73 per cent were confident that Auckland Council’s water provider Watercare could provide Auckland’s water infrastructure into the future.

Residents, views are echoed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body. Last month, Councillors voted overwhelmingly to tell the Government that it did not support the governance and ownership model proposed.

Mayor Phil Goff says the proposal removes democratic accountability and the loss of direct controls by councils over water service entities.

However, in a letter to Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta, Mr Goff said while there was strong opposition to the governance proposals, Council was confident that with appropriate changes, the Government’s fundamental objectives for water reform could be achieved.

Despite the opposition to the current proposal, Cr Sayers says it is unlikely the Government will back off.

“I don’t believe the concerns being voiced by numerous Councils will deter the Three Waters ownership changes from being further progressed. Should this happen it would be a poor reflection on the use of the country’s democratic processes,” he says.