Hamilton City Council has now taken one of the weakest positions in the entire country on the Government's 3 Waters Reform following its vote yesterday, according to deputy mayor Geoff Taylor.

Taylor put up a motion asking the council to oppose the reforms, demand they be halted until other local government reforms had taken place and to signal Hamilton City would “opt out” if the current proposal to merge all 67 councils’ water assets into four mega entities remained.

The vote was lost 6-7 with Mayor Paula Southgate amongst those opposing Taylor’s motion. The council decided instead to send feedback saying it did not support the reforms “in their entirety” and making suggestions about how they could be improved.

“We had the chance to send a clear message to the Government on behalf of our community but we choked.

“This council has been remiss in failing to actively consult with our public despite having 8 weeks to do so. Other councils did consult.

“Now it's highly likely Hamilton residents won't get any chance to have their say at all. If Minister Mahuta mandates the legislation as she has indicated she will, and it heads straight to a Select Committee it will bypass councils altogether.

“HCC has been asleep at the wheel on this issue - and in my view spineless - and has abandoned its own residents. Our first priority should have been representing our residents – not playing along with the Government’s processes.

“We’ve failed in our most basic job. We’ve let down our residents.”

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