Government plays political football with Three Waters

Mayors have expressed their disappointment that the Government’s refusal to make meaningful changes to Three Waters Reform has turned it into an election issue, rather than seeking consensus.

The government’s ‘reset’ announcement has seen only minor tweaks to the entity model, while doing nothing to answer concerns around community property rights and meaningful local voice.

While the Government has increased the number of entities, the governance structure remains unchanged, leaving communities still two steps away from any real influence.

Communities 4 Local Democracy He hapori mō te Manapori Co-Chairs, Mayors Helen Worboys and Dan Gordon, said that Mayors were disappointed the Government had once again rejected the opportunity to seek a consensus approach to Three Waters Reform.

“We think New Zealanders will see through this, it’s the same plan with a different name,” they said.

“Simply adding more entities and changing the name is a desperate attempt to save this plan and attempt to show they’ve done something with the $100 million they’ve sunk into this process so far.

 “We’ve been calling for a reset for this policy for some time, and were genuinely excited about having an opportunity to re-engage with the Minister to map a great path forward for water reform.

“Sadly, in a repeat of what happened when it was mandated, the Government continues to shelve local democracy and ignore an overwhelming majority of the community to press on with its plan virtually unaltered.

“Unfortunately, instead of listening to what communities are asking for, the Government once again thinks it knows better and is serving up a reheated version of the same unpalatable, unpopular plan.

“These are assets that local communities have paid for over many generations. They do not belong to central government, and they are not there to play with as they please, like the health and polytech reforms.

“The plan still sees billions of dollars of assets confiscated without compensation from communities throughout the nation and greatly diminishes their say on the infrastructure they own and have built.

“These are long-term, multi-generational assets and it’s really disappointing that they are now being treated as a political football by Wellington, causing a massive amount of disruption and unnecessary stress to everyone in the sector.”

C4LD is calling for a real reset to the policy, taking the reform out of the hands of central government and allowing for communities to steer reforms that make local sense.

C4LD’s plan meets and improves on many of the Government’s stated bottom lines including scale and balance sheet separation.

“We’re facing unprecedented challenges from climate change to demographic shifts, but our communities’ feedback has been clear all along this process.

“They want locally led, locally informed and locally accountable solutions to these issues, not another one-size-fits-none approach dictated from Wellington,” they said.

“While there may be a fresh new minister presenting the ideas, there’s nothing fresh about the ideas themselves, it’s just the same old meal with the same old ‘like it or lump it’ approach.

“It now appears this matter will be once and for all settled at the upcoming General Election as there are clear choices for voters on this matter.”

For more information about the Communities 4 Local Democracy He hapori mō te Manapori visit communities4localdemocracy.co.nz/ideas