The Chairperson of the Governance and Administration Committee has called for submissions on the Water Services Entities Amendment Bill.

The Water Services Entities Amendment Bill forms part of the suite of bills to reform New Zealand’s drinking-water, wastewater, and stormwater services. The bill would mainly amend the Water Services Entities Act 2022, which provides for the creation of new water services entities. This bill would disestablish the four water services entities that were established on enactment of the Act and replace them with 10 water services entities which are more closely modelled on existing regions.

The bill would also:

· provide a longer period for the establishment of water services entities, between 1 July 2024 and 1 July 2026

· provide for every territorial authority to be represented on the regional representative group of their entity, alongside an equal number of mana whenua representatives

· give community groups with an interest in a water body an opportunity to make statements to their entity about their priorities for that body

· make changes to other Acts including the Local Government Act 2002 and the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002.

As part of the proposal to establish 10 water services entities and amend the establishment timeframes, the bill would:

· introduce a process to enable locally-led, voluntary mergers of two or more entities

· establish a Water Services Entities Funding Agency as a backstopping financing mechanism alongside Crown financial support

· enable shared services arrangements, including Minister-directed arrangements where collaboration is required

· provide transitional arrangements for local government and water service entities to ensure the arrangements align with the establishment of 10 water services entities between 1 July 2024 and 1 July 2026.

Tell the Governance and Administration Committee what you think

Make a submission on the bill by midnight on Wednesday, 5 July 2023.

For more details about the bill:

· Read the full content of the bill

· What’s been said in Parliament about the bill?

· Follow the committee’s Facebook page for updates
 

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