First New Water Services Entity Springs To Life
Local Government Minister Simon Watts attended the formal launch of Selwyn Water Limited today with Mayor Sam Broughton, local MP Nicola Grigg, and company chair Murray Strong.
Watts confirmed at the launch that the Secretary for Local Government, Paul James, had formally accepted Selwyn's Water Services Delivery Plan.
Selwyn Water Limited will deliver drinking and wastewater services to around 30,000 households and over 8,000 businesses across New Zealand's fastest-growing region.
Broughton said the formation of Selwyn Water marked a major milestone for the District.
'After years of talking about water reforms, we're pleased to have moved to give our residents certainty for the future of drinking and wastewater services.
'Selwyn Water will deliver services that enable community and business development and protect environmental health, it will manage its finances prudently and operate independently from rates.'
The councillors had voted 6-5 to move the district's drinking and wastewater to a council controlled organisation (CCO).
That decision has received plenty of pushback, with 89% of the submissions calling for the alternative in-house model.
Broughton previously said those submissions represented 1% of the population.
At the opening, he said most of the things that had been raised by submitters had been considered by the council's three waters subcommittee.
'The council decision was already around a preferred WSCCO to set us up for the future.'
Established under the Government'sLocal Water Done Wellframework, Selwyn Water Limited is the first CCO of its kind.
It combines public ownership with customer services expertise and will be governed by an independent board.
Over the next six months, the council will transfer relevant assets, staff, and systems to ensure a seamless transition and continuity of service.
In its annual plan, the council has budgeted around $11 million for the transition to the CCO.
It had already budgeted, in November, $2m to support the proposed establishment of a CCO and development of the Water Services Delivery Plan.
Selwyn Water chairperson Murray Strong noted that the utility is being built on a strong foundation.
'Selwyn Water will be a 'best in class' public utility company, aligned with Council and Government expectations and subject to oversight from the Commerce Commission and Taumata Arowai.
'Our flexible structure also allows for other councils to partner in future, creating efficiencies and further cost savings across districts.'
Broughton was confident that any future amalgamation of services with other councils wouldn't require a new CCO.
'This has been set up and designed from the beginning to be able to shape and change itself, and morph into whatever the future requirements are for the districts that want to be a part of collaborating for Canterbury.'
Selwyn MP Nicola Grigg welcomed the launch as a practical response to the community's growth and infrastructure demands.
'I'm very pleased to see the council move to enable this ownership model and look forward to Selwyn Water delivering high standards of service for our people.'
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