The Central Otago, Clutha and Gore District Councils this week signed off on a significant milestone in their journey to jointly delivering sustainable, locally owned water services to their communities.

The councils’ mayors and chief executives met yesterday (26 August) to sign the joint Water Services Delivery Plan (WSDP), a document that marks the culmination of months of planning, analysis, community conversations and decision-making.

The plan outlines the future delivery of water, wastewater, and stormwater services across the three districts. It demonstrates Southern Water Done Well’s commitment to meeting regulatory requirements, supporting growth and achieving sustainable water services through a jointly owned water services entity.

It also includes an assessment of each council's water infrastructure and future investment needs.

Core principles in the WSDP that will be reflected in the new entity include:

• No consumer pays more for their water services than they would under an in-house model for the same level of service and investment.
• Rural water is recognised as a distinct service and ’fourth water’.
• All shareholding councils have equal votes through a shareholders’ representative group.

SWDW chair and Central Otago District Mayor Tamah Alley said Local Water Done Well had been the single biggest issue facing local government over the last three years, alongside other significant undertakings such as resource management reform, plan changes, and rates increases.

“I am thrilled to be heading for the deadline with two partners whose values of service, community and affordability align with Central Otago values.

“Now we can get stuck into the work of putting together a world-class water services entity that will be able to scale into the future.”

Clutha District Mayor Bryan Cadogan said this was the first step in the right direction, providing some degree of protection against the full brunt of three waters’ increasing costs.

“It’s now up to the next council to further pursue additional strengths by bringing more councils on.”

Gore District Mayor Ben Bell also looked forward to the growth of SWDW for the betterment of all communities.

“It’s been a long and challenging journey, and I'm glad we can finally start working toward sustainable water services for our communities.

“However, other councils' refusal to work together is deeply frustrating as it will hit ratepayers with costs that could have been avoided."

The WSDP is a cornerstone document in the Government’s Local Water Done Well legislation.

All New Zealand councils have until 3 September to submit their plans to the Department of Internal Affairs, which will assess whether they meet legislative requirements or require resubmission.