A former water manager for the Dunedin City Council says shifting operations to a company could be worth considering.
However, he said people would be in a better position to know the answer if the council had produced a better consultation document.
Nigel Harwood was the first submitter at council hearings yesterday to discuss the future of water services.
Consideration of whether the council should set up a company to deliver water services is happening at the same time as the council’s 2025-34 long-term plan process.
The council’s preferred option is to keep delivery of water services in-house, run by council staff.
Reasons for this include that it would "preserve direct community involvement and accountability" and capitalise on existing strengths.
Mr Harwood said a series of statements made by the council were meaningless, such as that leveraging established systems and governance structures aligned closely with the city’s long-term objectives.
An assertion the in-house model enabled seamless co-ordination of water services with other DCC responsibilities such as urban planning was "rubbish".
Mr Harwood said there would be no incentive for a separate council-controlled organisation to do anything other than work with the council on such matters.
The consultation document was poor, he said.
"Given the reactive, as opposed to proactive, approach that the DCC has had over the decades with regard to water supply, wastewater collection and treatment, and stormwater control, my conclusion is that the in-house model is variable at best, and poor at worst."
A council company was worth considering, "but only if better-quality thought is put into the consultation documentation".
Dunedin Area Citizens Association chairman Lyndon Weggery said his group preferred the in-house model.
This would avoid the costs of setting up a company, he said.
