If you’re out there in ZB land and believe that water management should be democratically elected, you won’t find respite here. Local Government has done a terrible job dealing with water and change is urgently needed.
Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta says her dealings with the sector over Three Waters were in good faith, and she denies a decision to mandate the reforms had already been made.
The government kept councils guessing for months about whether they would be forced into three waters reforms, despite having already agreed to pursue such a strategy, papers show.
Opposition parties would return water infrastructure to councils, they say, and they doubt the proposed working groups will address concerns about governance, ownership and accountability.
OPINION: Trying to piece together the Three Waters Reform and form a pragmatic opinion to such a complex issue has left district councillor David Bublitz nothing short of perplexed.