At an Extraordinary meeting on 25 February 2025, Stratford District Council (SDC) discussed the two water services delivery methods that will be made available for public consultation as part of the Local Water Done Well (LWDW) central government reforms.

At this meeting, elected members needed to decide on their preferred water services delivery method to go out for consultation.

After a robust conversation on both options, a joint delivery model with New Plymouth District Council and South Taranaki District Council was confirmed as the proposed change for public consultation. District Mayor Neil Volzke moved the motion, which was seconded by Deputy Mayor Min McKay and put to a vote with 7 in support and 4 against it.

The kōrero heard around the Council chambers expressed how complex these government reforms are, noting that both options have their advantages and disadvantages leaving some elected members sitting on the fence. One thing that was made clear by elected members was the desire to hear from their community on what they believe is the best option for the Stratford district.

Consultation details will be available in April 2025 on YourSay.Stratford.govt.nz

How did we get to this point?

This week’s hui follows earlier discussions in 2024 when SDC reviewed several different delivery options for water services, including delivering water independently as well as working with New Plymouth and South Taranaki district councils to consider what joint water services delivery could look like in Taranaki.

In October 2024 SDC decided to continue with the development of Water Services Delivery Plans (WSDPs) for just two options, an in-house water services business unit and a regional water services council controlled organisation (WSCCO).

Following the October meeting, elected members have been busy reviewing information on structure options, governance arrangements, timeframes, delivery costs, and transition planning for both options in the lead up to this week’s meeting.

What happens now?

The consultation material for this decision will be developed over the month of March and then adopted for public release in April. The consultation document will outline both options on the table and identify the preferred option as being the regional WSCCO.

Consultation will run from 30 April to 30 May 2025.

Post consultation, elected members will consider the community feedback and make their final decision, on how water services should be delivered in the Stratford District going forward. This will be described in a WSDP.

The final WSDP needs to be submitted by 3 September 2025 and is subject to approval by the Department of Internal Affairs.

What is Local Water Done Well?

Local Water Done Well (LWDW), is a programme of reforms introduced by the Government in February 2024 that replaced what was known as Three Waters Reform. Since then, the Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Act was enacted on 2 September 2024, and a third bill introduced in 2024 to round off the new legislative requirements.

As part of this programme, councils across the country must develop and submit Water Services Delivery Plans (WSDPs) by September 2025. This process enables councils to design the structure, delivery method and funding and financing arrangements for their water services. The final WSDPs need to demonstrate how Council would achieve financial sustainability for its water services by 1 July 2028.

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