Selwyn Times: September 08, 2021

Selwyn Times Wednesday September 8 2021
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12
OPINION
Pledge to work with
residents on water reform
FIRSTLY THANK you to
all our essential workers
who again continue to
keep Selwyn ticking
through lockdown, and
to the rest of us who are
working from home or
staying safe in our bubbles,
please keep it up.
While many things
stopped for a few weeks
there are still major
Government projects that
continue to chug on, one
of which is the Governments
three waters reform
(drinking water, waste
water and storm water
infrastructure).
I’ve received a mixed
bag of correspondence
on this issue, much
of which is asking for
more information and
expressing concerns about
losing local influence with
any potential changes.
However, the overwhelming
theme has been
a request to be consulted
about any decisions that
affect our communities.
In response to these
calls, we have committed
to community-wide
consultation before council
makes any decision on
possible transfer of water
infrastructure and developed
a dedicated web page
on our website including
Q&As to provide you with
as much information as
possible.
A key part of my role
which I enjoy is to listen to
READER’S LETTER
Sam
Broughton
Selwyn Mayor
people and businesses and
act as spokesperson to the
Government on matters
that affect us.
Selwyn is the third largest
population in the South
Island after Christchurch
and Dunedin, so our
voice carries weight and I
continue to advocate for us
through my roles as chair
of the Canterbury Mayoral
Forum and on the Board
of Local Government New
Zealand.
The Government’s three
waters proposal seeks to
transfer ownership and
management of our water
infrastructure into the
hands of a new entity to
make it more affordable for
all New Zealand. The size
of the new Entity matches
the Ngāi Tahu takiwa,
which is most of the South
Island.
All New Zealand councils
signed up to the first stage
of the project where we
shared information on our
infrastructure and debt and
Selwyn received $10 million
which we have put towards
a wastewater pipeline from
Darfield and Kirwee to
Rolleston to ensure no new
septic tanks are required as
those towns grow.
Part of the agreement
was that a future decision
to stay or opt out of joining
the new entity would be
our choice and that we
would have time to consult
with our community
before making a decision.
We are seeking more
information from the
Government and will
seek your views before
determining if any change
works well for Selwyn or
not.
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Water
The Canterbury Mayoral
Forum has signalled
to Minister of Foreign
Affairs Nanaia Mahuta of
their serious concerns on
behalf of ratepayers, of the
proposed water reforms
and the Government
acquisition of ratepayer
assets.
The minister’s response
was to accuse the regional
mayors of politicking,
rather than accepting
that the democratically
elected mayors are simply
reflecting the concerns of
their ratepayers.
Government claims by
2051 annual cost of water
services for Selwyn will
be $1640 down from the
projected $3480.
Their data modelling
horizon requires hugely
optimistic assumptions on
any new entity rates and
will presumably be based
on achieving new capital
works reducing running
costs, while loading
assumptions on future
Selwyn rates.
There are too many
unknown variables and
assumptions so figures are
not credible and cannot be
believed.
Under the current
democratic system
ratepayers have the choice
of managing the cost of
key water infrastructure,
by deferring or setting
aside the nice to have
things, via the 10-year
planning process.
If the minister was
serious about resolving the
water issues with poorly
performing councils, she
should simply advance
them the money now
to fix their issues rather
than spend multi-millions
setting new entities that
will end up sucking the
life out of ratepayers. – Ian
Lees, Darfield
•Stadium letters, p15