Kāpiti Coast residents are being asked for their views on one of the district’s biggest decisions in decades – who should manage the delivery of their drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater services in future.

Kapiti Mayor Janet Holborow says Council is putting forward two options for public consultation.

“The Government’s Local Water Done Well legislation means councils have to consult with their communities then submit a water services delivery plan by September. It’s a very tight deadline so we are inviting the community to provide their views by 13 April,” Mayor Holborow says.

“In Kāpiti we’re proud of our track record – we have safe, clean water, good infrastructure, well-run operations, and great staff so we don’t see the need for any major changes,” she says.

“However, new requirements significantly alter how our water services will be managed in the future, and that involves some changes, whichever option we choose.”

Option 1 is to keep water services delivery in-house, as it is now, but with additional resourcing needed to ring-fence the water operations from other council services, and to meet more stringent regulatory, monitoring and compliance requirements.

Option 2 is to team up with the Horowhenua, Manawatū and Palmerston North councils to create a jointly owned water services organisation for the whole area.

With Option 2, the four councils would be shareholders, but the organisation would run independently. This option requires the councils to transfer their water assets to the new organisation but would remain shareholders and guarantors.

“We are clear we want to keep our water assets in public ownership, and we also want to ensure that local priorities are still upheld,” Mayor Holborow says.

Mayor Holborow says Kāpiti Council had decided not to progress a Wellington region option because the challenges faced by the Wellington metro councils were far larger and immediate.

Council also discounted setting up a Kāpiti-only or a joint-Kāpiti/Horowhenua council-owned organisation, due to the high costs and inability to achieve economies of scale. It also dismissed setting up a Consumer Trust as it wouldn’t be able to access preferential lending rates.

Mayor Holborow says Kāpiti residents are strongly urged make a submission online at haveyoursay.kapiticoast.govt.nz/LocalWater or by picking up a form at any of the district’s libraries or service centres.

She says drop-in sessions will be scheduled for people who want to ask questions or discuss the issue in more detail. These will be advertised on the Have Your Say webpage when finalised.

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