Ashburton District Council chief executive Hamish Riach is confident its water services plan will be given the green light by the Government.
In a workshop this week, figures showed the average household cost for water services will rise from $1441 in 2024 to $2948 in 2034 due to increasing compliance and maintenance requirements.
The council decided to go with a standalone in-house business unit, which was supported by the community, on May 21.
The councillors workshopped the water services delivery plan on Wednesday, ahead of adopting it on August 20.
Councils have until September 3 to submit their water plan to the Department of Internal Affairs.
Riach told the councillors that a third-party consultant had reviewed the draft plan, giving him confidence that it was a strong proposal.
He said he was aware of six other councils receiving a letter from the Government raising concern at their intention to go with an in-house model, but Ashburton was not one of them.
Riach was “reasonably confident” the plan the council will put forward will get approved, and that it was still a sustainable and cheaper model than a council-controlled organisation.
A week earlier, at the Three Waters Committee meeting, he had warned councillors that the long-term plan budget “is simply not going to provide for the cost of delivering water services in the future”.
“It was utterly inevitable, and we said that through that work, that when you're moving into a new environment - where the Commerce Commission exists and it didn't before, [national water regulator] Taumata Arowai are continuing to develop their regulations, that the costs of delivering water can only go up regardless of the way in which water is delivered structurally.”
At the workshop, Riach said that “the information changed” since the long-term plan was adopted in 2024.
“The numbers have moved”.
Councillor Rob Mackle described the budgeting as “fighting shadows” with councillors having to make decisions in the face of a number of unknowns around the reforms and escalating costs.
The budgets included in the water plan are accurate and up to date, showing a need for increased funding, Riach said.
That’s why the plan is for the business unit to take over on July 1, 2027, to line up with the next long-term plan for a “smoother transition” and avoid major disruption, Riach said.
Mayor Neil Brown wasn’t confident that waiting two years would be acceptable, and the council “may struggle” getting the date approved, believing an earlier start date may be required.
Riach said that “if council or DIA decide an earlier start date is appropriate, that work has to be done”.
Councillor Russell Eliss said it was obvious through the process, and as the council made clear in the consultation, that water services would be more expensive going forward.
Riach reaffirmed that only people who receive the services will pay for them, not the wider district.
That’s simple for water and wastewater, but for stormwater, currently a small portion of the three waters cost, the council will have to consider changing how it charges, Riach said.
It is funded under the general rate, but the requirement to ringfence funding for the business unit will mean it needs to be looked at, he said.
The plan also includes around $1m for a district-wide rollout of fluoride, which Riach stressed is not a decision by the council but “simply a placeholder” anticipating a potential decision and directive from Health NZ.
The plan will come back to the council on August 20 for adoption, and then it will go to the DIA to get sign-off.
Selwyn was the first water services entity to be established under the Government’s Water Done Well legislation.
Selwyn Water Limited, a stand-alone CCO, launched on July 8 and will deliver drinking and wastewater services to around 30,000 households and over 8,000 businesses across New Zealand’s fastest-growing region.
The councillors had voted 6-5 to move the district’s drinking and wastewater to a council-controlled organisation (CCO) in April.
That decision received plenty of pushback, with 89% of the submissions calling for the alternative in-house model.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
