Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) councillors approved a submission on a central government Three Waters bill at a special council meeting yesterday (Tuesday August 2).

Numerous local councillors and mayor Jim Boult have been vocal in their opposition of the controversial Three Waters reform - which would transfer water ownership from councils to four national entities - and the submission maintained that strong voice.

Council urged the select committee, which will consider its submission, to pause the Three Waters reform programme “to ensure the most appropriate service delivery model is put forward, and aligned with other reform programmes”.

Specifically, it asked the government to pause the current Water Service Entities bill.

The submission says QLDC supports the need for regulatory reform of the Three Waters (wastewater, stormwater, and drinking water) services but it opposes the mandate of the new model and has concerns about the nature of the reform; it “fundamentally” opposes government’s proposed water services delivery model; and, said a lack of detail about the programme provided made it difficult to provide a detailed submission.

QLDC forms part of Entity D, along with 21 other South Island councils, and its resident population of 48,300 makes it the sixth largest council in the entity.

The submission says QLDC is concerned the shareholding model proposed under Three Waters does not take into account the substantial number of visitors to the region: “This demonstrates a significant difference in the investment and interest required in council’s Three Waters infrastructure to meet the needs of the Queenstown Lakes District,” the submission said.

Councillors at yesterday’s meeting commended the final submission: Wānaka-based councillor Niamh Shaw called the submission “absolutely excellent”, a sentiment shared by other councillors.

“This was clearly projected as an opt-in scheme and our community should have an opportunity to have a say and that opportunity has been removed,” councillor Quentin Smith said.

Mayor Jim Boult said he thought the submission “communicates very firmly” the council’s stance on Three Waters and said he was pleased the council had “avoided some of the hysteria that has been occurring elsewhere on this matter”.

QLDC’s submission will be considered alongside others by the select committee, which will prepare a report on the Water Services Entities bill for the House, which may include recommending changes to the bill. 

Read QLDC’s full submission at the council website here.

PHOTO: Supplied