A report on the proposed future water service delivery model for Queenstown Lakes District will go before Council on Thursday 29 May 2025, as required by the Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Act 2024 (WSPA Act).

Queenstown Lakes District Council’s (QLDC) elected members will be asked to agree to consult on a proposal to establish a Water Services Council Controlled Organisation (WSCCO). Consultation would begin Monday 2 June 2025, decision pending.

QLDC Property & Infrastructure General Manager, Tony Avery said as part of central government’s Local Water Done Well plan to address Aotearoa New Zealand’s water infrastructure challenges, Council had carefully assessed options for the future delivery of water services in Queenstown Lakes District.

“Given costs are already projected to increase significantly as outlined in the QLDC Long Term Plan (LTP) 2024-2034, we wanted to ensure the proposed model we plan to share for public consultation considered financial implications for consumers, amongst several other factors,” said Mr Avery.

“The assessments and modelling we have undertaken shows a WSCCO would provide the greatest opportunity to deliver high quality, resilient, sustainable and reliable water services and provide certainty for our communities on the provision of water services.”

A WSSCO would operate as a Council Controlled Organisation specifically established to manage and deliver drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater services in the district, and to own QLDC’s current water assets and their associated debt and liabilities.

While the proposed organisation would operate independently from Council and have its own specialist board and management, legislation specifically prevents it from being privatised or paying a dividend.

Council would set the organisation’s strategic priorities and establish measures to ensure it performs to expectations, while the Commerce Commission would use various regulatory tools to ensure water charges are fair, cost-reflective, and transparent.

The other shortlisted option evaluated was for QLDC to continue to deliver water services in-house, recognising that changes would need to be made to enable Council to respond to the new regulatory environment if such a model was progressed with. An in-house model would be similarly subject to the Commerce Commission regulatory requirements.

In addition to cost to households, the WSCCO and the in-house model were assessed on their ability to attract and retain staff, adapt to changing requirements, maximise value and minimise waste, effectively and efficiently manage water services, and deliver to community priorities.

Mr Avery said Council needed to be confident that the model chosen would be capable of delivering financially sustainable water services to meet the increased financial requirements in legislation intended to be passed by central government.

“Under all scenarios, including Council’s current Long-Term Plan, water charges are projected to increase substantially. The modelling undertaken shows that when compared with the in-house model, the proposed WSCCO model would initially result in higher water charges for households through to 2034, but long-term would lead to lower charges on average from 2034 to 2044,” said Mr Avery.

The report recommending consultation on the proposed future water service delivery model is to go before Council on Thursday and details on the assessments carried out is available online at https://www.qldc.govt.nz/your-council/council-meetings/29-may-2025-full-council-meeting/.

Given the strong public interest in Local Water Done Well and the future delivery of water services in the district, those interested are encouraged to attend the Full Council meeting being hosted at Arrowtown Community Centre, starting from 1.00pm. The venue does not have livestreaming capabilities, but a recording of the meeting will be uploaded to QLDC’s Youtube channel as soon as possible after the meeting has ended.

© Scoop Media