Local Water Done Well

Council asked the community for feedback on how the district’s drinking, storm and wastewater will be managed in the future. 

Local Water Done Well is the government’s approach to reforming the way water services are delivered in New Zealand in the future. The aim is to address New Zealand’s long-standing water infrastructure challenges.

As per the Local Water Done Well legislation, we must rethink our approach to delivering water services in the future and consult on it.

The two options we invited the community to give us feedback on were:

• Option 1 – A multi–council-controlled organisation
• Option 2 - An internal business unit

Option one outlines the arrangements for creating a multi-council-controlled organisation with the Westland District Council and Grey District Council. We believe that this option offers the best outcomes for our community, as it spreads the costs over a larger population and will make providing drinking, waste, and stormwater services more cost-efficient for residents on the West Coast.

The second option describes how a stand-alone business unit outside of Buller District Council could deliver water services to residents in the Buller District.

For each option, we have considered the required infrastructure, scheduled investments, necessary upgrades, the organisational structure needed to deliver water services, the impact on existing staff, and the likely financial implications. We have presented this information in our Consultation Document.

Hearings and deliberations took place on Monday 30 June, where nine people spoke to their submissions during the hearings. Council has published the individual submissions and a consultation report analysing the submissions on the Buller District Council website.

The consultation has closed, and we’d like to thank everyone who took the time to provide feedback.