Three Waters reform and a pending election is causing the “horrifying” scenario that councils will need to prepare two versions of the long-term plan (LTP).
Ashburton District Council chief executive Hamish Riach said the council will have to prepare two versions of its next LTP, which it starts work on next year, to cater for the possible election outcomes.
Riach said that with the law as it stands under the current Labour Government and “significant commentary from National politicians” of repealing the reform ahead of the election, the only way the council can prepare a long-term plan “is that we will actually have to prepare two”.
“One with water in and one with water out.”
He said it is a daunting task from a staff point of view, as creating an LTP is a significant undertaking anyway.
“To do two versions of it is a little bit horrifying but we can see no other way.”
The problem is the timing of the election most likely occurring after the council sign-off the LTP.
The Labour Government is moving forward with its Three Waters reform which will take the assets out of council hands on July 1, 2024.
With an election looming next year and National stating it will repeal the Three Waters reform if it comes into power, there is the potential that those Three Waters assets could remain in council hands.
Riach said that means the council will need an alternative LTP to lean on.
It will mean doubling the workload for a secondary LTP that may just gather dust.
“It’s going to create more work, perhaps unnecessarily, but it is what it is,” Ashburton Mayor Neil Brown said.
“We can’t change that and we just have to abide by what we have to do.”

• By Jonathan Leask