Waitomo District Council is working with other councils in the Waikato Waters Done Well project
Waitomo District Council has followed Waipā District Council into the Waikato Water Done Well agreement.
Waitomo councillors agreed last week to enter into a Heads of Agreement as part of the Waikato Waters Done Well project on the same day Waipā councillors made the same decision to continue the development of an option to jointly deliver waters services.
The motion was proposed by Waitomo district mayor John Robertson, seconded by deputy mayor Allan Goddard and passed unanimously.
The decision commits the councils to working together to investigate the establishment of a council-controlled organisation (CCO) to deliver water and wastewater services.
Matamata-Piako District Council and South Waikato District Council have also followed suit.
Waitomo District Council chief executive Ben Smit told The News the decision would give the council a second option to take to its community beyond the status quo.
“Waikato Water Done Well is coming together really well,” Smit said.
“The Waikato is quite a long way ahead with the development of water regions.”
Kāhu Manawa managing director Vaughan Payne appeared before Waikato Regional Council on Thursday with an update on the regional approach. Payne has been leading Water Done Well on behalf of the Waikato Mayoral Forum and local iwi chairs for 18 months and holding weekly meetings with council chief executives for two months.
Ōtorohanga will decide on December 10, Waikato on December 12, and Hauraki on December 18. Taupō and Thames-Coromandel district councils are also yet to decide.
“We are definitely signing,” said Hauraki district mayor Toby Adams.
“By signing up to this it gives those councils agreeing to working together the opportunity to design something that will work for all councils and communities.
Payne told Waikato Regional Council the traditional approach saw every council looking at wastewater treatment plants in isolation of what was happening in the rest of the Waikato River.
Using a Waikato River catchment approach, rather than a wastewater treatment plant by plant approach, would save millions of dollars across the region as it had for Matamata-Piako District Council.
“Instead of having five different consent applications they combined them into one, even though some consents expired in 10 years’ time they decided to get them to all have a common expiry date and get them considered together,” Payne said.
“At a $6 million budget they spent $2 million on the consent, so a $4 million saving on consent processing, and they expect a $20 million saving on capital works because they are looking at nutrient balancing between the plants to get the best return on investment for the Firth of Thames.”
Under the Government’s Local Waters Done Well legislation, all councils are required to produce a water services delivery plan by September 2025, with a focus on ensuring future delivery is financially sustainable and meets quality standards.
