3 Waters reform update
Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick says Rotorua Lakes Council will continue to participate in 3 Waters reform discussions to achieve the best possible outcome for our district.
“Our council has been involved in the reform conversation from the start to look after the best interests of our community. There’s still a long way to go and a lot to consider but we will continue to have an active role in discussions to get the best possible outcome for our district.”
Detailed information about what the Government proposes has been released and Mayor Chadwick says Council will work through the detail "to see how things could stack up for us".
“As a council we have agreed on some high level principles that have focused around the need to ensure the reforms don’t compromise the role of local leadership and local direction, and ensuring iwi interests are upheld.
“We have been adamant throughout about the need to ensure our strong partnerships with mana whenua to achieve good outcomes that benefit our whole community are not compromised.
“Relationships matter and we don’t want to lose the gains to date from these strong partnerships,” Mayor Chadwick says.
“We also want assurance our district will receive services that meet or exceed the standard of services provided prior to the creation of any new entity.
“There’s no doubt that there would be advantages from the changes proposed and we need to continue to be involved in the discussions to enable us to negotiate on behalf of our community. We also need to take Te Arawa’s interests into any negotiations and any new entity will need to uphold the principles of the Te Arawa Lakes Settlement.”
Rotorua Lakes Council had proactively elevated infrastructure investment and what would continue with $424 million of further investment in infrastructure planned across the 10 years of the recently-adopted 2021-31 Long-term Plan, Mayor Chadwick says.
“As a Council we have recognised the need to address infrastructure challenges and have worked on this progressively and proactively during recent years.”
Recognition of a scarcity of skills and ageing wastewater infrastructure resulted in a partnership with the Trility consortium to manage and maintain wastewater infrastructure, Council has continued to make good progress on wastewater reticulation in the district’s lakes communities, is progressively renewing stormwater networks, has upgraded all of the district’s water supplies, plans to upgrade the city wastewater treatment plant to even higher standards, and is working with iwi to find a suitable long-term solution for treated wastewater discharge.
The planned infrastructure spend accounts for more than half of the total proposed capital spend for the term of the LTP and includes planned investment of $170 million for sewerage, $75 million for stormwater and $52 million for water supply.
Information now released by Government
Latest information released today can be found at the following links on DIA website:
June 2021 Cabinet decisions and reform proposals
- Three Waters Reform Programme Overview – A3 - 30 June 2021 [PDF, 1MB]
- FAQs - Transforming the system for delivering three waters - 30 June 2021 [PDF, 827KB]
- Water Service Entities - Overview - 30 June 2021 [PDF, 744KB]
- Transforming the system for delivering three waters services - the case for change and summary of proposals - 30 June 2021 [PDF, 2MB]
Media release – Minster of Local Government Hon Nanaia Mahuta
- Media release - Government water reforms to build economic resilience and save ratepayers money – 30 June 2021 (Beehive website)
Request for Information – Local Dashboard release
Cabinet papers and minutes and Regulatory Impact Analysis – released 30 June 2021
- Cabinet Paper One and minute – A new system for three waters service delivery - 30 June 2021 [PDF, 8MB]
- Cabinet Paper Two and minute – Designing the new three waters service delivery entities – 30 June 2021 [PDF, 6MB]
- Cabinet Paper Three and minute – Protecting and promoting iwi/Māori rights and interests – 30 June 2021 [PDF, 8MB]
- Department of Internal Affairs - Regulatory Impact Analysis - Decision on the reform of three waters service delivery arrangement – 30 June 2021 [PDF, 9MB]
