Local Water Done Well consultation

This option would see the delivery of water services remain within Council as a business unit, rather than the establishment of a new organisation. The business unit would be responsible to the elected Council members, with established Council governance oversight, and the delivery of services would be accountable to the public through usual local democracy practices. 

This option means we would retain local ownership and control of our assets, we wouldn’t need to fund any Council Controlled Organisation (CCO) set-up costs, nor would we need to cross-subsidise other parts of Northland’s water costs. 

While we believe this option is the best for Whangārei right now, we also see that a multi-council CCO has potential benefits for Northland. With this in mind, we will work with Kaipara District Council to investigate managed or shared service opportunities in the short term, which will likely involve sharing professional services like project delivery and asset management.  

At the same time, we will work alongside Kaipara District Council and Far North District Council to further investigate how a Northland CCO could work in the mid-term (the next three to five years).

Under this option, our debt is proposed to increase, however we would remain well below our debt limits. 

You can read more about the pros and cons of this option in the consultation document. 

This option would see the creation of an external, council controlled water organisation, jointly owned by Whangārei District Council, Kaipara District Council and Far North District Council. Governance of this organisation would be independent from Council, with a competency-based board appointed, and the three councils making up 100% of shareholdings.  

The organisation would be responsible for, and limited to, the provision of water supply and wastewater services, preparing its own strategy, and asset management plans. It would be financially independent from Council, making its own investment decisions.  

Stormwater assets would likely remain Council owned with the CCO managing the services on the councils’ behalf. This is because many critical parts of the system are shared across other services too. For example, roads drain stormwater during heavy rain, and green spaces in parks and reserves are designed to capture excess water where possible. 

We would anticipate the new CCO would maintain the same high level of service delivery our District enjoys today. However, at this current time, a multi-council Northland CCO would mean Whangārei would need to cross-subsidise water costs for the rest of Northland and would carry higher amounts of debt than Option 1.