TO: Council
MEETING DATE: 12 February 2025
TITLE: Local Water Done Well- Approval of Consultation Document
Presented By: Julie Keane, Transition Manager, Olivia Wix, Communications Manager, Scott Mancer Manager Finance
APPROVED BY: Waid Crockett, Chief Executive
1. That Council adopt for consultation the Local Water Done Well Consultation Document (Attachment 1).
1. ISSUE and BackgrouND
1.1 Under the Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Act, Council is required to consult on options for the future delivery of Water Services.
1.2 At its meeting on 5 February 2025 Council directed officers to come back to this meeting with revisions to the consultation document incorporated.
1.3 The revised draft consultation document is attached for approval.
2. CHAnges made to the Consultation Document
2.1 The following tables explain the changes made to the document.
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Council resolutions: |
Changes: |
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show option of numbers plus inflation |
Numbers now exclude inflation. The modelling reports showing inflation and deflation will be on our website as supporting information.
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Option 2 – show which councils are possible for option 2 and effect of smaller group on costs; range of options – best vs worst matrix.
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Option 2 now shows the two potential scenarios and a price range. The map has also been updated to include different council perspectives.
There is not a full matrix as within this mix of 6 councils there are just under 75 potential variations. These will all be on our website.
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explain changes to national standards and likely changes to costs due to them.
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Completed and added to section ‘Some other points for you to consider’
We also added reference to new wastewater standards and DIA comments in Nature Calls section.
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whether Nature Calls costs are included or not - show consistently across all figures. |
Now included in all options.
However, when talking about debt, the IFF is not included. That’s because in our LTP it was proposed to be externally funded. |
Other changes made by staff:
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Submission close date |
Throughout the consultation document we have changed the consultation end date to 30 March. Consultation would start 27 February. We need some time between adoption and starting consultation so we can get information to properties.
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Range of prices |
Based on Elected Members feedback and guidance from our modeller, we have changed these to be scales and round numbers to make it easier for everyone to understand.
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affordability |
We have included a blurb about affordability and why we need to use that terminology. This is on page 5.
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Other considerations for preferred options |
Originally, we had a blurb about other things we considered when determining preferred options other than costs on page 34 under ‘Other things to consider’. We have now moved that to the beginning where we detail the process of getting to an option.
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Combined total cost for ratepayers in 24/25 |
These were split out. Now they are one main number with breakdowns.
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Price Harmonisation |
We have made this blurb easier to understand, and also demonstrated that councils have control about how it works as part of setting up an organisation.
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New page about proposed investment |
At last week’s meeting there were questions about what work was still involved in Option 3 for water other than Nature Calls. We have highlighted the big capital projects. This is also helpful to reiterate to our community.
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Potential pros/cons/other things |
We need to be really clear on these as part of the legislative requirements. These were quite buried in the wording of the option, and some were also on the original infographic pages. We have broken these out into different categories. The ones in the table are ones that are facts that the community want to know but are not necessarily either a pro or con. We have also added a couple including scale/geography/governance and council involvement. These were in the option description, but we have made them more obvious as pros or cons.
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Option 2, take 2. |
We have re-written this to make it clearer what potential scenarios are under this option.
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Iwi involvement |
We have added a sentence under the ‘we’re keeping iwi informed’ to include a sentence from Rangitāne. This explains that they expect to be involved.
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Attributed diagram of proposed structure
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We have mentioned that this diagram was provided by DIA but we have altered to show iwi and our expectation that they are involved- but that is still to be determined.
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Spelling/Grammar/plain English changes |
Throughout the document we have taken the opportunity to correct any spelling or grammar errors, but also taken a look at some of the wording to ensure it is as clear as possible and easy to understand for our community.
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New question in submission form |
We have added a question to the submission form “Which councils would you like to see Palmerston North work with for water services? This could include councils named in this document, or others.”
This is a free text question and allows submitters to highlight any areas of strength or weaknesses we may not have considered/or detailed for any particular council. It also means if there is strong community opinion about the desire to work with a specific council, then elected members would know and have a public mandate to have those conversations with other councils. While we don’t have a specific question about councils our community don’t want us to work with, we expect this will come through in the answer. |
3. NEXT STEPS
3.1 The revised consultation period will now be from Thursday 27 February and Sunday 30 March 2025. Hearings will remain on 16 April at the Sustainability Committee followed by deliberation and decision at the Council meeting of 7 May.
4. Compliance and administration
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Does Council have delegated authority to decide? |
Yes |
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Are the decisions significant? |
No |
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If they are significant do they affect land or a body of water? |
No |
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Can this decision only be made through a 10 Year Plan? |
No |
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Does this decision require consultation through the Special Consultative procedure? |
No |
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Is there funding in the current Annual Plan for these objectives? |
Yes |
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Are the recommendations inconsistent with any of Council’s policies or plans? |
No |
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The
recommendations contribute to: Whāinga 4: He tāone
toitū, he tāone manawaroa |
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The recommendations contribute to this plan: 14. Mahere mana urungi, kirirarautanga hihiri 14. Governance and Active Citizenship Plan The objectives are: Provide information to communities in accordance with legislation and best practice. Engage and consult through a range of methods |
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Contribution to strategic direction and to social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being |
Seeking community feedback enables Council to advocate to Government and other decision-makers on issues and opportunities regarding water services. |
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1. |
Local Water Done Well_ Consultation Document ⇩and form |
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