Hauraki District Council confirms a unanimous ‘head and heart’ decision to go with the Waikato Water Done Well (WWDW) sub-regional Council Controlled option for the future delivery of water and waste water services in the district.
Mayor Toby Adams thanked everyone involved for the huge workload that went into this decision and the considered feedback received from the community following public consultation in May 2025.
“We crunched the numbers and we’re confident that this decision to form a Council Controlled Organisation (CCO) with other Councils in the Waikato catchment area will give the economies of scale and service efficiencies we need for our communities going forward. Holistically, it’s also the right approach for managing waterways as a whole in the Waikato”, he said.
Seven Waikato Councils signed a Heads of Agreement in 2024 to explore a regional CCO as one option for the management of water services to meet the requirements of central government’s Local Water Done Well policy. Ōtorohanga District Council has confirmed WWDW as their way forward with decisions to come from Matamata-Piako; Waipa; Waitomo and South Waikato district councils. Taupo District Council has confirmed a staged approach for joining the CCO.
It is required that the CCO be established in July 2025 with Hauraki District Council and Ōtorohanga District Council transferring in from 1 July 2027.
Chief Executive David Speirs says that this decision has been a long time coming, due to many things out of Hauraki’s control and it feels good to be able to move forward with increased certainty.
“We will continue to deliver a seamless water services experience for our communities and team, as well as work with the new CCO, once it is confirmed with the other participating Councils, to ensure the HDC transfer is smooth and as non-disruptive as possible”, he said.
Stormwater management will remain with Council.
The CCO, once established will manage the water and wastewater service delivery (including assets and liabilities) of its shareholding council owners and will have independent, qualified directors who are appointed by the shareholding councils.
Now that the future water services delivery model is agreed upon, Council can finalise the Water Services Delivery Plan that must be presented to Government by the 3 September 2025.
The plan will provide an assessment of Council’s water infrastructure, how much investment is needed and how Council plans to finance and deliver it through the CCO.
“Once all the preferred option decisions have been made by the participating Councils, we’ll have a clear path forward for transitioning to the new CCO. It represents challenging but exciting times ahead and we’ll keep our communities well informed of the next stages”, said Mayor Toby.
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