Change in water control

Governance of Waihemo water has been taken over, with little notice, by the Waihemo Community Board.

Waihemo Water Committee chairman Ronald Sheat told the Waihemo Community Board public forum this week the committee had been dismissed by the community board with ''five minutes' notice''.

Mr Sheat said the water committee members were given copies of the Waihemo water governance report when they entered the meeting room for the public forum, which was the first official notice of their disbandment.

The committee would have appreciated more direct communication about the disbanding, Mr Sheat said.

Speaking after the community board meeting, he said committee members were volunteers who had to cover their own expenses for stationery and mailing, at no cost to the Waitaki District Council.

The committee was established in 2010 to combine the previous Goodwood and Dunback water committees with the Palmerston town supply.

Waitaki District Council assets group manager Neil Jorgensen said in a report to the board meeting that as part of delegations made by the present district council, it resolved to include the governance of the recently combined Waihemo water scheme under the Waihemo Community Board.

The board had the option of requesting the council reconsider the delegation to a separate water committee.

Mr Jorgensen said this option would be viable should the community board feel water supply governance was better managed A submission had been received by the council from the previous combined water supply committee asking why there had been no election for a new water supply subcommittee, Mr Jorgensen said.

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