The submission process for the Government's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill is now closed.
Collective councils of the Wellington region and Horowhenua District have made a submission to the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee regarding the Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill.
You can read the submission here.
The Bill aims to establish preliminary arrangements for local government water services delivery. It is the second of three bills related to waters services that the Government intends to pass.
You can read more about the Bill here.
Porirua City is teaming up with other councils in the Wellington region on water reform, to jointly develop a water service delivery plan that is workable, affordable, sustainable and meets the needs of communities and the environment. You can read more about it here.
The Department of Internal Affairs has provided councils with information about the Local Water Done Well policy decisions. You can read about it here.
Minister of Local Government Hon Simeon Brown has also provided information on Local Water Done Well stage 2: Establishing the framework and transitional arrangement for the new water services system. You can read about it here.
The Government has repealed the Water Services legislation through the Water Services Acts Repeal Bill.
You can read the Bill here.
The Government has announced the establishment of a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to provide expert advice on the implementation of its Local Water Done Well.
At the moment 67 different councils, including Porirua, own and operate the majority of the country’s water services. However, councils face a number of challenges to deliver these in an affordable way into the future, including ageing infrastructure, growth and the impacts of climate change.
The Government’s plan proposes putting all water services into 10 new publicly-owned Water Services Entities (WSEs). Porirua would be in Entity G with seven other councils from the Wellington region.
The Government is implementing reform of water services through a suite of legislation, including:
The Government made changes to the water services reform programme (Three Waters Reform) in April '23. These changes included increasing the number of new water services entities from four to 10, the establishment date of the entities (with the new entities going live sequentially from early 2025) by 1 July 2026.
Legislation to implement these changes and associated matters is intended to take place before the 2023 general election.
The Water Services Legislation Bill and The Water Services Economic Efficiency and Consumer Protection Bill are largely unaffected by the changes. These bills will continue their progress through Parliament on their current timetable.
This is a big issue for all Councils and one we are taking very seriously to ensure a good outcome for Porirua. It is clear things cannot continue as they are, but the way forward has not been decided yet.
Until changes are completed, we will continue to deliver water services through Wellington Water, the region’s joint Council controlled organisation. Porirua, Wellington, Hutt, Upper Hutt, Greater Wellington and South Wairarapa Councils are all owners in Wellington Water.