masturbidder wrote:

For once I agree with the government; the councils (especially Auckland) have made a very expensive bureaucratic empire out of the water/ wastewater systems, and at the same time neglected maintenance and developing future capacity.
Can one dedicated authority do better? I think so.
And rates should be reduced because council staff can be cut, maybe.

I read a good opinion piece earlier this month that pointed out that nearly all councils are crying out to central government for funding for water infrastructure but don't want the assets taken off their balance sheets as they currently use them as assets against which they can borrow. Remove the asset will limit their ability to borrow.

sparkychap - 2021-07-26 17:35:00

Phill Goff on the Government's plan to take control of water; "it would be managed by an anonymous group of bureaucrats..".
Oh Phil, listen to yourself! Pot, Kettle, Black.

masturbidder - 2021-07-26 21:21:00

government says they are doing this to save ratepayers money, saying no council on its own would be able to meet the cost of water investment in the future without passing on huge bills to households.
How will four entities paying board members be able to provide the infrastructure without passing the cost on to ratepayers?

maddie44 - 2021-07-26 21:38:00

maddie44 wrote:

government says they are doing this to save ratepayers money, saying no council on its own would be able to meet the cost of water investment in the future without passing on huge bills to households.
How will four entities paying board members be able to provide the infrastructure without passing the cost on to ratepayers?

They never said they'd be no more cost passed on to rate payers, but the modelling proposes that the efficiency of a larger service, with less duplications, will deliver a lower increase than each council trying to do their own thing with their own staff.

sparkychap - 2021-07-26 22:05:00

sparkychap wrote:

They never said they'd be no more cost passed on to rate payers, but the modelling proposes that the efficiency of a larger service, with less duplications, will deliver a lower increase than each council trying to do their own thing with their own staff.

isn't that what the Auckland supercity modelling said as well?
Water costs with 3 Rivers by 2051 $800 to $1640
if left with councils $1900 to $9000 yeah nah

Edited by maddie44 at 11:28 pm, Mon 26 Jul

maddie44 - 2021-07-26 23:27:00

Just look at the argument between Auckland council and Waikato about using river water, with any decision held up for years in the resource consent process.
How much did that cost in BS, lawyers and delays?
One authority could make a decision and do it.

masturbidder - 2021-07-28 11:06:00

masturbidder wrote:

Just look at the argument between Auckland council and Waikato about using river water, with any decision held up for years in the resource consent process.
How much did that cost in BS, lawyers and delays?
One authority could make a decision and do it.

There won't be one authority there will be four and Auckland and Hamilton will be under different authorities so what would be different?

maddie44 - 2021-07-28 11:10:00