Latest news with #MorrisonLow
Otago Daily Times
26-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Councillors told option the riskiest
Councillors who backed going it alone on building a new Dunedin landfill were warned by independent experts it was the riskiest option being considered. The report on Smooth Hill, developed by consultancy Morrison Low, was released publicly last week ahead of deliberations on the Dunedin City Council Long Term Plan. In November, councillors voted 11-2 to build a landfill at Smooth Hill independently, subject to long-term-plan funding, rather than exporting waste out of the district or building in partnership with a private company. Cr Sophie Barker said she was "satisfied" the council made the right decision, while Cr Andrew Whiley was concerned the proposed model could be affected by private competitors. Council staff recommended the council go it alone, but Morrison Low's report advised the Smooth Hill landfill be built in partnership. In 2023, Morrison Low said although a council-owned and operated landfill would have a lower impact on annual rates, it had significant capital requirements and was the highest risk of the final options. Morrison Low also ranked the option 12 from 13 longlisted options, where it scored low in potential affordability and achievability. Building in partnership would provide the council with industry expertise and access to a wider disposal market while disposing of waste out-of-district was "not a viable" alternative. In a 2024 update, Morrison Low told councillors building alone had the highest potential revenue but remained the highest financial risk. Running with a commercial partner was highly dependent on the commercial model and "deficiencies in contractual arrangements" between councils and private waste companies had been recently highlighted. "Overall, the difference between [building alone or in partnership] is small." If the council built the landfill alone, there was a risk of competition from commercial waste companies. "AB Lime have already signalled they would look to develop their own transfer station in Dunedin, attract commercial customers away from DCC and transport waste to their landfill in Southland." In their report to the council, staff said building independently provided more autonomy to dispose of its own waste and meet waste reduction goals. It did rely on annual waste to the Smooth Hill landfill remaining "the same or similar" to current tonnages to the Green Island Landfill. "There may be measures that could mitigate this risk, such as a landfill management contract with appropriate incentives," the report said. It also noted Morrison Low estimated the landfill would cost $80 million, including 20% contingency. The council had included $92.4m in the draft long-term-plan budget, which included a further contingency. Cr Barker said councillors had "ample opportunity" to ask questions during the process and she was "satisfied" with the decision. Risks were able to be managed through the contingency and Dunedin had "mountains of waste to dispose of", she said. Cr Andrew Whiley opposed building the Smooth Hill landfill and said he was surprised to hear of AB Lime's planned transfer station. "That was mentioned briefly in our papers, but yet when you look at our modelling and everything else, I found that revelation actually quite concerning because I believe that does change our business model on that basis." Mayoral candidate Andrew Simms said he welcomed the release of information which allowed greater scrutiny of the council's decision but urged councillors to be certain they had considered all options. "At first read of the report there are some figures that are difficult to reconcile with my evaluation of the business case for Smooth Hill. This requires more investigation and more questions before I could be in any way confident that council is making the correct decision." Councillors are expected to vote on funding for the Smooth Hill landfill today, as part of long-term-plan deliberations.
Scoop
22-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Decision-Day For Masterton's Water
Masterton councillors will decide on Wednesday whether to progress a Wairarapa-Tararua water service entity, or go it alone. The council was set to deliberate on submissions at 2pm on Wednesday and decide between the two options. If the council voted to progress work on the Wairarapa-Tararua water services delivery model, it would enter into a commitment agreement with the participating councils and develop the Water Services Delivery Plan and foundation principles and documents to be carried forward into the plan. Foundation principles would include: non-standardisation of pricing and debt; share allocation; and decision-making arrangements. If council chose this option, there would be two further opportunities to exit the arrangement and to submit a Water Services Delivery Plan with a Masterton-only water services delivery model to the Department of Internal Affairs. The Wairarapa-Tararua option was recommended by council staff because it 'enables council to work through the uncertainties and concerns of the Wairarapa-Tararua model while still providing council with two opportunities to exit the arrangement'. Alternatively, the council could vote to not progress a Wairarapa Tararua water services delivery model and only progress a Masterton-only water services delivery model. Analysis of the 139 submissions made to Masterton District Council showed the majority (60%) were in favour of the Wairarapa-Tararua proposal. Key themes in the submissions from those who supported the proposal were economies of scale, long-term sustainability, support for increased borrowing capacity. Of those who did not support the proposal, key themes were concerns about price standardisation, affordability, and the desire to have more localised control over water assets and services. A report to council said that while protections against price standardisation could be put in place, standardisation in the future could not be guaranteed. A memo from legal firm Morrison Low was also included in the agenda pack for Wednesday's meeting. It provided advice and guidance to Masterton District Council on the council's desire to 'on establishment, protect Masterton from price standardisation' and 'ensure that there are sufficient protections over key decisions or changes to foundational documents over the longer term that protect Masterton from price standardisation to the extent that is desired'. It said there was 'a path forward' that would provide council with assurance that price differentiation was possible; shareholding could be determined on a basis that reflected Masterton's position relative to the region; and decision making could be structured in a way that promoted regional focus and recognised Masterton's position relative to the region at the current time. It also said protections could be enshrined in the series of foundational documents required to establish and then control and govern the council-controlled organisation. It recommended voting mechanism provisions in both the shareholders agreement and constitution which ensured no single council had positive or negative control but which required 75% of the shareholders to agree to any changes to foundational documents. 'A super majority or similar threshold requires not just Masterton District Council but other councils to agree as well, giving a perception and reality that is more consistent with consensus decision making while preserving Masterton District Council's ability to protect the interests of its ratepayers," the memo said. It recommended commencing with local pricing but having a review point for standardisation. This could be a point in time, such as five years, or an 'identified cost differential', for example, when local prices were within 10% of each other. South Wairarapa District Council has already voted to pursue the Wairarapa-Tararua option. Carterton District Council were set to meet at 9am Thursday to deliberate on submissions and decide a path forward. Tararua District Council would meet on May 28 to deliberate on submissions and would decide on the future of water management at an extraordinary meeting on June 11. -LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
