Source: Radio New Zealand
A hefty bill is bubbling up for Wellington, after decades of underinvestment in the city’s water infrastructure. RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The local government minister has called Wellington’s mayor for an explanation of the huge water bills that residents are facing – and are forecast to hit almost $7000 a year by the end of the decade.
Wellington’s new water entity Tiaki Wai is a council-controlled organisation taking over Wellington, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt and Porirua City Councils water assets from July.
It announced this morning that residents will face an average nearly 15 percent hike in water charges this coming financial year – from $2100 to $2400.
Those bills may rise by nearly a quarter the following year – and keep increasing – to reach an estimated $6800 per year for water services by 2036 as the water entity tries to fix old, failing infrastructure.
Local government minister Simon Watts said those costs were higher than he was expecting.
“I’m concerned for Wellington ratepayers again, you know we’ve got a long string of issues in this area.”
Watts said the plan that Tiaki Wai presented to the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) and the water regulator last year did not forecast such high costs.
He said he phoned Wellington’s Mayor Andrew Little about this today.
“I outlined to him that we received a plan from you which outlined a profile of cost increases, and as a result the entity has now published a price which is not in the plan, which is much higher, I need to understand, and have an explanation around that.”
A Tiaki Wai spokesperson said the Water Services Delivery plan it presented in August last year was based on the best available information at the time, and the organisation will continue to review its costs as investment plans develop.
Little said Tiaki Wai was responsible for what it sent to DIA last year, and he did not control or veto the organisation’s decisions under the new system.
He said he shared the minister’s concerns about bills, but the government campaigned on this model under its Local Water Done Well policy.
He said he will be scrutinising Tiaki Wai’s performance and pricing closely.
“If the increases follow the path that Tiaki Wai are saying, then people are going to expect high quality, that leaks are repaired quickly, also that they can contact their water company, at any time of the day.”
He wanted the Commerce Commission to be granted the power to intervene if water entity’s bills became unreasonable.
Watts did not confirm if the Commerce Commission would have the power to step in over sky-rocketing bills, but said he had called in the commission in this instance to work with Tiaki Wai and the councils over the projected prices.
Porirua Mayor Anita Baker said bills reaching nearly $7000 a year in a decade were horrendous, and could drive people away from the region.
“At those sort of prices, who’s going to be living here? I can’t pay $6000 in water, and $6000 in rates… we have to do something.”
She said while she supported the establishment of the water entity, and understood the scale of the work at hand, water charges still needed to be affordable.
Wellingtonians divided over jump in bills
Some Wellingtonians RNZ spoke to were worried about the charges due to cost of living pressures, while others said the region’s assets had to be fixed.
Dale said she did not look forward to the future knowing those charges lay ahead.
“That sounds pretty crap. I’m 28, so the way it will be, by the time I am 38, that doesn’t sound like I’ll be living a great life.”
But another resident Daniel Freese said the city had ignored failing assets for too long.
“I think it has to happen, I think we’re paying for under-investment over many years, and although it’s not good news, we just need to suck it up and pay for it.
“If we don’t pay now, we’re going have to pay later, and it’s going to be more.”
Resident Tom Arkell said he was keen to see water meters brought in for the city.
“I’d like to think we could bring in some pay-per-use water monitors, that we can actually incentivise people to use less water, and to track, and therefore they could pay within what they’re comfortable, rather than getting a fixed bill no matter how much water you use.”
Tiaki Wai is considering water meters, and the organisation expects they will take up to seven years to roll out across Wellington, and cost $590 million in total.
Peet yesterday told reporters the dire state of the region’s infrastructure could no longer be ignored after decades of under-investment.
“We know we’ve got a lot of leaks, we know we’ve got compliance issues with wastewater, and we all know that stormwater continues to be a significant challenge for many cities – but Wellington in particular.”
Peet said fixing the failed Moa Point plant – which has been spewing raw sewage into the sea for nearly six weeks – will be a top priority.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
