Selwyn Times: October 13, 2021

Wednesday October 13 2021 Selwyn Times 29
Issue 4 - SPRING 2021
Kia ora
Thank you to all our essential workers,
community volunteers, emergency services
and those who went the extra mile to get
us through the most recent lockdown.
We are still a long way from being out of
the woods and the best way we can all
play our part in keeping Waikirikiri Selwyn
safe is by getting vaccinated. I’ve had my
first jab and the second one is all booked.
Jump online now bookmyvaccine.nz or call
0800 28 29 26.
Longer days are well and truly here and
it’s great to be coming home with evening
daylight. There are a lot of events planned
for the next few months and hopefully
future alert levels will allow us to enjoy the
good times of spring.
Mayor Sam
Mayor Sam at Lake Coleridge
Our response to the
Government’s Water Reform
Our Council own and control over $600 million worth of drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater
infrastructure on behalf of our community. I’m proud of the great job we do to ensure we are in the
top handful of councils across the country that have some of the most affordable drinking water and
newest infrastructure. However we still issue boil water notices for some communities and are on a
path of continual improvement. Not every council is in such a good position. We have worked with both
Labour and National governments over the last 20 years as they considered centralising water services.
The current Government’s proposal would see us join water services with most South Island councils.
Ownership of the infrastructure would transfer to the new ‘Entity D’, and ownership of Entity D would sit
with the councils collectively. We have asked the Government to pause and to allow more time for a full
conversation with our community before making the decision to proceed or not. We have committed
to formally seek your opinion before any Council decision on change. That said, the Government could
still make joining an entity mandatory regardless of our views, and it seems the case for change for New
Zealand is more compelling than the case for change for Selwyn. Either way my focus is to make sure
Waikirikiri Selwyn residents continue to receive the safe and affordable water we enjoy now, and to have
a voice in how services improve as our district grows. So as well as listening to and advocating for our
community I am also working with other South Island mayors and Ngāi Tahu to influence what any new
entity could look like, and how it would listen locally and operate well for the large and small communities of
Selwyn and the South Island.
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