The community of Kaipara will soon be asked for feedback on a way forward for the district’s water services.

Under the Local Water Done Well legislation, all councils around New Zealand have been tasked by the Government to consider how they can best provide water services in the future, by joining up with others or on their own. Regardless of what service delivery model is chosen, councils will need to meet new economic, environmental, and water quality regulatory requirements.

In the March council meeting, elected members discussed and approved three options for consultation – a combined Northland council-controlled organisation which would look after Kaipara wastewater and drinking water supply, a shared service arrangement with one or more councils (for wastewater and drinking water), or retain an in-house model that would continue to look after all three water services (wastewater, drinking water and stormwater).

The legislation also requires all councils to complete a Water Services Delivery Plan, which must be submitted to Government by September 2025.

Kaipara District Council Mayor Craig Jepson acknowledged that council was having to work within strict legislative deadlines.

“With tight timeframes in place, we now need to decide our future under Local Water Done Well.

Soon, we will be asking our community which one of the three options they think are best for Kaipara. Two of those options involve working closely with our neighbouring councils.

Ultimately, our goal is to deliver the most efficient, economical service with maximum benefits for our ratepayers. We think the option that will best achieve this is a council-controlled organisation (CCO) with Whangārei District Council and Far North District Council, but we want to hear from you before we decide and finalise our Water Services Delivery Plan.”

Consultation on the future options is planned for 7 April to 7 May 2025.

Further information will be available soon at kaipara.govt.nz/localwaterdonewell

Local Water Done Well

Local Water Done Well (LWDW) is legislation introduced from the Government and aimed at addressing New Zealand’s long-standing water infrastructure challenges. It paves the way for services and assets to be retained by council while offering new options for delivering water services and funding water infrastructure.

• Read more from Department of Internal Affairs at: www.dia.govt.nz/Water-Services-Policy-and-Legislation

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