Selwyn District Council and its new Council Controlled Organisation, Selwyn Water, are working closely to resolve a number of issues identified through the transfer of drinking water and wastewater services to the council-controlled organisation.
The CCO, which is taking charge of the districts $1.1 bilion drinking and waste water assets, updated the council last week on its work programme to ensure households and businesses receive fair and reliable charges from the outset.
As part of the transition, Selwyn Water completed a detailed review of customer, asset, and financial information, which is required to ensure systems are robust before direct customer billing begins in July 2026.
The work confirmed that a sizeable number of properties and businesses were not consistently recorded for water and trade waste charges under previous arrangements.
Some cost and asset information now requires updating due to growth exceeding what was previously predicted in the long-term plan.
No changes to billing is occurring at this stage, and the focus is on getting the foundations right before direct billing starts in July 2026.
Selwyn Water chief executive Alex Cabrera said the company is focused on building reliable and accurate information for customer, asset and financial systems.
He said reliable data is the foundation of a well-managed water infrastructure network.
“It ensures people are billed accurately, costs distributed fairly and supports better planning, and data-driven investment decisions.
“Doing this work now means we can give the community confidence they are paying fairly for water use, and that decisions are being made on solid information before direct customer billing begins.”
The Council and Selwyn Water also identified the need to strengthen the accuracy of asset and capital investment information, so long-term planning reflects the cost of maintaining Selwyn’s water networks.
Selwyn Mayor Lydia Gliddon said the work shows the council’s commitment to fairness, transparency, and responsible financial management.
“Setting up Selwyn Water has provided the opportunity to develop a new, purpose-built billing system which is fit for the future, robust, and transparent for households and businesses.
“We’re not interested in glossing over issues.
“We’re focused on fixing them properly so households and businesses can trust the system going forward.
“This is about taking a clear-eyed look at the facts, fixing what needs fixing, and making sure households and businesses can trust the system before billing changes.
“It’s important to be upfront with our community, some historic systems didn’t give us the clarity we need today. Addressing that now protects ratepayers and ensures costs are shared fairly.”
