As part of the government’s Local Water Done Well reforms local authorities need to change the way drinking water, wastewater and stormwater services are delivered.
In Waitaki, three options are being considered for the future management of water services: in-house; a council-controlled organisation (CCO) wholly owned by the Waitaki District Council; and a joint CCO co-owned with three other councils.
Waitaki District Mayor Gary Kircher said he was concerned about how many submissions might have been affected by the dissemination of wrong information.
"It has been very unfortunate that there has been a concerted attempt to provide incorrect information and assumptions to the wider public which have not only misrepresented the actual facts, but they have also contradicted the base facts of the case," Mayor Kircher said in a council report.
"It has clearly skewed the results and fed into people’s natural concerns about change.
"These implications raised by submitters’ concerns will need to be considered and they will.
"At the end of the day, we must do the best we can for our ratepayers and whether that means retaining water services or giving them up, it is my expectation that every councillor and I will do our best to deliver the best decision for long-term quality and affordability over the next 50 years or more."
The council’s preferred choice would have Waitaki establish a CCO with the Gore, Central Otago and Clutha District Councils in a proposal called Southern Water Done Well (SWDW).
Mr Kircher said economic consultancy Infometrics was employed to "better inform" both councillors and the public about each option, the company’s chief economist, Brad Olsen, concluding the SWDW proposal offered "a compelling solution" to the problem.
However, mayoral candidate David Wilson said residents had given a clear "keep our waters local" message to the council.
"It is insulting to imply that the submitters didn’t know what they were talking about. Many of the most knowledgeable and wise people in the district responded.
"The message of the people was clear."
Just over 300 submissions were received, just half the amount council received during its recent submission period on the district plan.
The clear winner in the popularity stakes was the in-house option, which is favoured as the first choice of 54% of submitters.
The stand-alone option was favoured by 21% of submitters, the council’s preferred SWDW option was favoured by 15% of submitters and 10% favoured the South Canterbury option involving a combined CCO with the Waimate, Timaru and Mackenzie councils. This was included in consultation documents even though none of those councils included Waitaki in their own consultations.
Overall, "75% of submitters said they opposed collaboration between councils, with the strongest concern registered as losing local control (83%), followed by lack of transparency (64%), increased costs (60%) and 16% of submitters concerned about changes to water quality", the council ’s report said.
The Waitaki District Council has conducted deliberations on the proposal over the past two days, advisers from Morrison Low attending yesterday.
A final decision will be made at a council meeting on July 8.
The water services delivery plan must be submitted to the Department of Internal Affairs by September 3.
