A shared organisation to deliver water services for Hamilton City and Waikato District Councils is a step closer, with Waikato unanimously agreeing to co-design an asset-owning council-controlled organisation (CCO) to manage water and wastewater.
The co-design would enable consideration of a CCO as one future option as both councils respond to the challenges of growth, maintenance, and the increasing costs of new infrastructure, Hamilton City Council said in a statement.
Government requires councils to deliver a long-term plan for water services by September next year. This week’s decision by Waikato comes less than two weeks after Hamilton confirmed a multi-council waters CCO was its preferred solution and paves the way for the two councils to potentially develop a joint plan for Government.
Hamilton Mayor, Paula Southgate said the decision is welcome and means elected members from both councils have now each unanimously agreed on the way forward for their respective organisations.
“As a region, we know there are benefits in working together to find efficiencies and get the best results for our communities,” Mayor Southgate said.
“Hamilton and Waikato’s decisions provide confidence that we can look at the benefits of scale for the future of our water services. Working together lets us address priority issues for both councils in a timely way and means we can prepare plans to consult with our community,” Mayor Southgate said.
“Our decisions don’t lock either council into a particular solution, and we remain free to consider other options. But given our communities live, work and play across territorial boundaries, it just makes sense to think the same way as we deliver services.”
The decisions by both councils also provide for a potential interim step of Hamilton providing water services to Waikato by separate agreement, ensuring continuity of service at the conclusion of Waikato’s existing contract with Watercare on 30 June 2026.
“This is a very important piece of work for Council, our priority is to ensure the best outcome we can for our residents and ratepayers, and that means we must do our due diligence carefully”, said Waikato District Council Mayor, Jacqui Church.
“As mayor, I am committed to fostering a spirit of collaboration and strong leadership to drive positive progress and truly ‘get stuff done’. This decision of council allows us to consider key options as we ensure that our communities receive quality water services that are effective, fit for purpose and under a lens of affordability.”
The Councils say the development of a CCO would eventually see waters costs charged separately, while spreading costs of major infrastructure investment across the future generations that will benefit. The decisions mean options for a new, council-owned water services company will be developed over the next six months ahead of full public consultation early next year.
