Ruapehu And Whanganui To Form Joint Water Services Entity
RDC had voted to support the two-council WS-CCO model at its meeting on 9 July, with the decision contingent on WDC confirming its preference to partner with Ruapehu. That confirmation came today, with WDC elected members voting 8–5 in favour of the joint model.
Chief Executive Clive Manley welcomed the confirmation and said it was an important milestone that enables both councils to begin work on the detailed planning and implementation.
'This has been a long and complex process, and a significant amount of work has gone into getting us to this point,' said Mr Manley.
'Now that we have clarity and agreement from both councils, staff can progress the necessary steps to implement the new water services delivery model. Until we had confirmation of our partner council, there were key aspects we simply couldn't move forward on.'
The immediate priority will be the development of a joint Water Services Delivery Plan (WSDP) with WDC.
This plan must demonstrate how the proposed two-council WS-CCO meets the Government's legislative requirements - particularly around financial sustainability - and must be submitted to the Minister of Local Government for approval by 3 September 2025.
'Given ministerial approval of the WSDP, Council staff will be working closely with Whanganui to operationalise the new WS-CCO as quickly as possible,' said Mr Manley.
'The target is for the WS-CCO to be fully operational by mid-2027. In the meantime, water users in Ruapehu will continue to be serviced by our existing provider, Veolia, with no change to service levels.'
Mr Manley noted that WDC had also voted to include stormwater services in the new WS-CCO.
Ruapehu is still considering whether to transfer its stormwater services or retain them in-house. This decision will not impact the establishment of the WS-CCO.
'We'll make a decision on stormwater in due course, but it doesn't prevent us from moving forward with the rest of the WS-CCO implementation,' he said.
Mr Manley added that this partnership builds on the strong history of collaboration between the two councils.
'This new water services partnership adds to a growing list of shared services between Ruapehu and Whanganui.
Both councils are committed to continuing to explore opportunities that improve efficiency and reduce costs for our communities.'
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