The Three Waters reform is being imposed on councils despite widespread opposition. More than 60,000 submissions opposed the reform, but the government continued with only minor changes. The co-governance provisions remain, which give local iwi half of the seats on an entity’s regional representative group. The other half are shared between the local councils. The iwi and hapu Te Mana o te Wai statements, which must be put into effect by the water entity, have also been retained.
The cost of the Three Waters reform to ratepayers has yet to be quantified by the Whangarei District Council and has not yet let ratepayers know how much it will add to their annual rates bill. What we do know is that the WDC will have to hand over some $40 million in cash reserves that have been collected from ratepayers to fund future water projects.
National and ACT have said they would repeal the Three Waters legislation should they become government. National favours a regional water management model.
