Water bills likely to rise

BY ROMY UDANGA

Manukau’s 350,000 water users could be the losers under the government’s supercity plan to shift water services to a single company and user-pays pricing.

Mayor Len Brown told a supercity meeting in Otara that’s another "devil in the detail" people should think about as the government moves to establish the structure of a single Auckland Council.

His remark follows Local Government Minister Rodney Hide’s acknowledgment that "water bills will go up for some Aucklanders" and there will be winners and losers when volumetric charging is implemented.

Mr Brown says Manukau has the lowest water rates in the Auckland region so "it is highly likely that prices will go up".

"Much will depend on the type of governance control that the new mayor and council will take into the organisation.

"Our submission through this process is that we should split all of the Auckland Council’s retail units from Watercare so there is one provider for retail and one for wholesale to ensure some degree of checks and balances on Watercare and on the forward development of our water and wastewater.

"After all, this is the most crucial infrastructure we provide in our region and in local government."

Mr Brown’s contention is supported by an Auckland Water Group report on the performance of the region’s water industry for 2007/2008.

It indicates Manukau’s water and wastewater prices continue to be the lowest in the region.

The report also shows water use in Manukau is falling faster than anywhere else in the region, indicating that the city’s moves to curb water demand are more effective than anywhere else in the region.

"So if prices are going to go up for some users, guess who is going to suffer?

"It is ironic that Manukau’s people, who are doing the most to reduce their water usage, will likely face the biggest price increases under an amalgamated structure," Mr Brown says.

He says the government will achieve "quite a feat by moving our water business into one structure under Watercare".

"That means it could change the policy relating to the pricing of water and billing."

Manukau’s water bill is based on a fixed charge for residents and part-fixed part-volumetric charge for commercial users. Other parts of the region bill differently.

"Watercare has a different preference for how water should be charged," Mr Brown says.

But Watercare says no decision has been made on future charging methods because that will be addressed either by the Government or the new Auckland Council.

Finance general manager Gary Swift says Watercare "expects water and wastewater prices to be substantially lower across the region as a whole" as a result of efficiencies that can be achieved through integration.

He could not comment on how the move would impact on Manukau residents.

"It is too soon to say until we have completed analysis of the financial information that we would expect to be made available to us following legislative change. It’s too early to break that down by area."

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