Kāpiti Coast residents will continue to have their water services delivered by the District Council, in keeping with the strong community support for this model shared during the Council’s recent consultation.

Mayor Janet Holborow said Council felt the benefits of teaming up with other councils to deliver drinking water, wastewater and stormwater services did not stack up for Kāpiti ratepayers and residents at this time.

“Kāpiti has a great track record of strategic investment and excellent management of our water delivery services. This was endorsed by our consultation which showed 94 percent of submitters want us to keep their water services delivery with the council.

“Right now, we don’t see any benefits to our community of joining up with other councils who are still facing the need to spend on big-ticket items like water meters and major wastewater treatment plant upgrades,” Mayor Holborow said.

Under the Government’s Local Water Done Well policy the Council was required to consult on two options: a joint council-owned arrangement with Manawatū, Horowhenua, and Palmerston North councils (‘The Four’) that would be independently governed, or the current in-house model but with water services delivery ring-fenced from the rest of council operations (‘The One’).

Manawatū District Council recently voted to continue to deliver their own water services in-house, pulling out of ‘The Four’. This reduced the potential financial benefits for Kāpiti joining with Horowhenua and Palmerston North, Mayor Holborow said.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

“We’ve looked at financial modelling which shows costs to consumers in the joint four-council model could even out in about 20 years, but that’s by no means guaranteed. With Manawatū no longer in the mix, it further reduces the opportunities for economies of scale in the joint model,” she said.

“We also think there’s still too much uncertainty about the additional set-up costs or the ability of our council to influence the governance and pricing in a joint model,” Mayor Holborow said.

“It’s important to note that today’s decision does not preclude us from exploring other water service delivery models in the future but for now we remain focussed on ensuring local priorities are upheld and we meet the Government’s requirement to provide a Water Services Delivery Plan to the Department of Internal Affairs by 3 September this year.”

Council made its decision at a special meeting today. Mayor Holborow acknowledged the collaboration between the four councils and thanked the community for engaging in the consultation.

© Scoop Media