Agenda of Wellington Water Committee

Wellington Water Committee

Purpose

The Wellington Water Committee ("the Committee") is established to:

· Provide governance oversight of the network infrastructure for the delivery of bulk water, water reticulation, wastewater and stormwater services in the areas of Lower Hutt City, Porirua City, Upper Hutt City and Wellington City ("the four cities");

· Provide governance oversight of Wellington Water Limited; and

· Provide a forum for the representatives of Wellington Water Limited's shareholders (being Wellington Regional Council and the local authorities for the four cities) ("the Shareholders") to meet, discuss and co-ordinate on relevant issues and, through their representatives, exercise their powers.

Status

The Committee is a joint committee of the Lower Hutt City Council, Porirua City Council, Upper Hutt City Council, Wellington City Council and Wellington Regional Council.

Specific responsibilities

The Committee's responsibilities are:

Governance oversight responsibilities

Governance oversight of Wellington Water Limited and of the network infrastructure for the delivery of bulk water, water reticulation, wastewater and stormwater services in the areas of the four cities, including by:

· Receiving and considering the half-yearly and annual reports of Wellington Water Limited;

· Receiving and considering such other information from Wellington Water Limited as the Committee may request on behalf of the Shareholders and/or receive from time to time;

· Undertaking performance and other monitoring of Wellington Water Limited;

· Considering and providing recommendations to the Shareholders on proposals from Wellington Water Limited;

· Providing co-ordinated feedback, and recommendations as needed, on any matters requested by Wellington Water Limited or any Shareholder;

· Providing recommendations to the Shareholders regarding the relevant network infrastructure owned by each Shareholder;

· Providing recommendations to the Shareholders regarding water conservation;

· Agreeing the annual Letter of Expectation to Wellington Water Limited;

· Receiving, considering and providing agreed feedback and recommendations to Wellington Water Limited on its draft statement of intent;

· Receiving, considering and providing recommendations to the Shareholders regarding Wellington Water Limited's final statement of intent.

· Agreeing when Shareholder meetings, or resolutions in lieu of Shareholder meetings, are required, without prejudice to Shareholder and board rights to call meetings under Wellington Water Limited's constitution;

· Seeking and interviewing candidates for Wellington Water Limited's board as needed and approving director appointments and/or removals;

· Approving the remuneration of directors of Wellington Water Limited;

· Monitoring the performance of the board of Wellington Water Limited; and

· Providing recommendations to the Shareholders regarding changes to these terms of reference, the Shareholders' Agreement and the constitution of Wellington Water Limited.

Shareholders' responsibilities

To the extent that each Shareholder delegates its relevant powers to the Committee member it appoints, the Committee will provide a forum for the Shareholders to meet and exercise their powers in relation to Wellington Water Limited.

Membership

The membership of the Committee will total five persons, as follows:

· One member appointed by Hutt City Council;

· One member appointed by Porirua City Council;

· One member appointed by Upper Hutt City Council;

· One member appointed by Wellington City Council; and

· One member appointed by Wellington Regional Council.

[Each appointee must be an elected member of the appointing Shareholder.]

Chairperson

The Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson will be elected by the Committee once all Committee members have been appointed.

Quorum

For a meeting of the Committee to have a quorum, three members, or their appointed alternates, must be present.

Where the Committee is providing a forum for the Shareholders to meet and exercise their powers in relation to Wellington Water Limited, the requirements of Wellington Water Limited's constitution will prevail.

[Note: Clause 11.3 of the company’s constitution provides that Directors shall be appointed and removed by the unanimous resolution of the shareholders. For this matter the quorum is therefore all five members or their alternates.]

Alternates

Each member appointed to the Committee must have an alternate appointed by the relevant Shareholder. The alternate may attend and vote at meetings of the Committee, but only in the event that the primary member is unable to do so.

Decision-making

The Committee will strive to make all decisions by consensus.

In the event that a consensus on a particular matter before the Committee is not able to be reached, each member of the Committee has a deliberative vote. In the situation where there is an equality of votes cast on a matter, the Chairperson does not have a casting vote and therefore the matter subject to the vote is defeated and the status quo is preserved.

Other than for those matters for which the Committee has effective decision-making capacity through these terms of reference, each Shareholder retains its full powers to make its own decisions on matters referred to it by the Committee.

Standing Orders

The Wellington Regional Council's Standing Orders apply, subject to the provisions for meeting quorum and decision making as set out in these terms of reference taking precedence.

Remuneration

Each Shareholder will be responsible for remunerating its representative on the Committee for any costs associated with that person's membership of the Committee.

Administration

Reports to be considered by the Committee may be submitted by any of the Shareholders or Wellington Water Limited.

Duration of the Committee

In accordance with clause 30(7) of Schedule 7 to the Local Government Act 2002, the Committee is not deemed to be discharged following each triennial election.

Appendix

Common delegations

Governance oversight responsibilities

· Each Shareholder will delegate to the Committee the responsibilities and powers necessary to participate in and carry out the Committee's governance oversight responsibilities.

Shareholders' responsibilities

· Each Shareholder will delegate to its appointed Committee member and, in accordance with these terms of reference, that person's alternate, all responsibilities and powers in relation to the agreement of:

o when Shareholder meetings, or resolutions in lieu of Shareholder meetings, are required (without prejudice to Shareholder and Board rights to call meetings under Wellington Water Limited's constitution); and

o the appointment, removal and remuneration of Wellington Water Limited's directors.

HUTT CITY COUNCIL

Wellington Water Committee

Meeting to be held in the Upper Hutt Council Chambers,
838 - 842 Fergusson Drive, Upper Hutt on

Tuesday 29 May 2018 commencing at 1.00pm

ORDER PAPER

Public Business

WELCOME BY THE CHAIR

1. APOLOGIES

2. PUBLIC COMMENT

Generally up to 30 minutes is set aside for public comment (three minutes per speaker on items appearing on the agenda). Speakers may be asked questions on the matters they raise.

3. CONFLICT OF INTEREST DECLARATIONS

4. Minutes

Meeting minutes Wellington Water Committee, 1 March 2018 9

5. Company Update Report (18/809)

Memorandum dated 14 May 2018 by Wellington Water Ltd 15

6. Sustainable Water Supply Update (18/794)

Memorandum dated 10 May 2018 by Wellington Water Ltd 24

7. Statement of Intent 2018-2021 (18/747)

Memorandum dated 23 May 2018 by the Divisional Manager, Democratic Services, Hutt City Council 26

8. Three Waters Review Submission (18/848)

Memorandum dated 22 May 2018 by the Chief Executive, Hutt City Council 64

9. EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC

CHAIR'S RECOMMENDATION:

“That the public be excluded from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting, namely:

10. Minutes

1 March 2018

The general subject of each matter to be considered while the public is excluded, the reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter, and the specific grounds under section 48(1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are as follows:

(A)	(B)	(C)

General subject of the matter to be considered.	Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter.	Ground under section 48(1) for the passing of this resolution.

Minutes of the Wellington Water Committee held on 1 March 2018 – Board Membership	The withholding of the information is necessary to protect the privacy of natural persons. (s7(2)(a)).	That the public conduct of the relevant part of the proceedings of the meeting would be likely to result in the disclosure of information for which good reason for withholding exist.

This resolution is made in reliance on section 48(1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 and the particular interest or interests protected by section 6 or 7 of that Act which would be prejudiced by the holding of the whole or the relevant part of the proceedings of the meeting in public are as specified in Column (B) above.”

Kathryn Stannard

Divisional Manager Democratic Services

14 1 March 2018

Wellington Water Committee

Minutes of a meeting held at Greater Wellington Regional Council,
Level 2, 15 Walter Street, Te Aro, Wellington on

Thursday 1 March 2018 commencing at 1.00pm

PRESENT: Deputy Mayor D Bassett (Chair) (Hutt City Council)

Mayor W Guppy (Upper Hutt City Council)

Cr R Leggett, Porirua City Council (until 2.20pm)

Mayor M Tana (Porirua City Council (from 2.20pm)

Cr I Pannett (Wellington City Council)

Cr J Brash (Greater Wellington Regional Council)

APOLOGIES: There were no apologies.

IN ATTENDANCE: Mr D Wright, Board Chair, Wellington Water Ltd
Cr C Laidlaw, Chair, GWRC (part meeting)

Cr R Leggett, Porirua City Council (from 2.20pm)

Cr P Gilberd, Wellington City Council (part meeting)

Mr M Kinvig, Group Manager, Network Strategy and Planning, Wellington Water Ltd (part meeting)

Ms J Bryan, Principal Advisor, Wellington Water Ltd (part meeting)

Mr D Baxter, City Engineer, WCC (part meeting)

Mr T Stallinger, Chief Executive, HCC (part meeting)

Ms W Walker, Chief Executive, PCC (part meeting)

Ms K Stannard, Divisional Manager Democratic Services, HCC

Mrs H Clegg, Minute Taker, Hutt City Council

PUBLIC BUSINESS

1. APOLOGIES

There were no apologies.

2. PUBLIC COMMENT

There was no public comment.

3. CONFLICT OF INTEREST DECLARATIONS

There were conflict of interest declarations.

4. Minutes

		RESOLVED: Minute No. WWC 18101 “That the minutes of the meeting of the Wellington Water Committee held on Wednesday, 22 November 2017, be confirmed as a true and correct record.”
5.	Draft Statement of Intent 2018-2021 (18/137) Memorandum dated 9 February 2018 by Wellington Water Ltd
	The Board Chair, Wellington Water Limited (WWL) elaborated on the memorandum. The Principal Advisor (WWL) added that three year targets would be added to the draft Statement of Intent (‘the draft’). In response to questions from a member, the Board Chair, WWL agreed to ensure consistent wording regarding clients, customers and ratepayers was used throughout the draft and that words “District Plans” would be used instead of “Spatial Plan.s” In response to questions from members, the Group Manager, Network Strategy and Planning (WWL) agreed to investigate how to alleviate confusion for residents when a WWL vehicle arrived in response to a callout from a local authority. He added WWL was assessing the Scottish Water processes between its call centre and customers. In response to questions from members regarding the publication of the draft, the Principal Advisor (WWL) advised the draft would have a statement explaining further amendments may be forthcoming as a result of the local authorities Long Term Plan consultations. In regard to climate change, the Group Manager, Network Strategy and Planning (WWL) explained that climate change featured heavily in WWL’s Long Term Strategy, and that studies eventuating from the Long Term Strategy would discuss climate change issues. In regard to firefighting issues, including the potential for fires to spread quickly throughout Wellington City, the Group Manager, Network Strategy and Planning (WWL) explained that talks were currently underway with Fire and Emergency New Zealand at an officer level. The Principal Advisor (WWL) agreed to insert a statement in the draft concerning the on-going building resilience works for WWL. In regard to flooding responses, the Board Chair, WWL agreed to clarify in the draft that there was no dulpication of services with GWRC.
	Resolved: Minute No. WWC 18101 “That the Committee receives the draft Statement of Intent attached as Appendix 1 to the memorandum taking into account minor amendments made at the meeting.”

Havelock North Inquiry (18/230)

Report No. WWC2018/1/12 by Wellington Water Ltd

The Chair highlighted that the actions of Wellington Water Limited (WWL) were fully aligned with the outcomes and recommendations from the Havelock North inquiry.

The Board Chair, WWL added that considerable work was currently underway to bring the region’s nine Water Safety Plans together into one operational plan. He agreed to organise a media release concerning WWL’s positive input in assisting with both the Taranaki and Havelock North situations.

The Principal Advisor, WWL added that the six principles of the Havelock North Inquiry Report had been incorporated into WWL’s draft Statement of Intent.

Resolved: Minute No. WWC 18102

“That the Committee:

(i) receives and notes the report;

(ii) notes that Wellington Water Ltd is well placed in progressing the urgent and early recommendations from the Havelock North Drinking Water Contamination Inquiry Stage 2 report; and

(iii) supports the recommendations contained in the Havelock North Drinking Water Contamination Inquiry Stage 2 report.”

7.	Half Yearly Report (18/126) Memorandum dated 8 Feb 2018 by Wellington Water Ltd
	The Board Chair, Wellington Water Limited (WWL) elaborated on the report. He explained the details of the recent Pukerua Bay incident which resulted in boil water notices to 50 properties while a pipe breach was remedied. He added that the Half Yearly Report was a broad document and highlighted that everything was tracking as expected. In response to questions regarding water resilience, the Board Chair WWL explained there had been a few bore failures. However, the goal of having a separate emergency water system in place by mid 2018 was still achieveable. He added that the recent algae bloom in the Hutt River was naturally occurring and was not attributable to water being drawn from the river. In regard to performance measures, the Board Chair, WWL advised that the performance measures were tracking towards targets.
	Resolved: Minute No. WWC 18103 “That the Committee receives the Half Yearly report for Wellington Water Limited attached as Appendix 1 to the memorandum.”
8.	Sustainable Water Supply (18/127) Report No. WWC2018/1/10 by Wellington Water Ltd
	The Board Chair, Wellington Water Limited elaborated on the report. Deputy Mayor Bassett proposed an informal workshop be held on the issue of sustainable water to enable pre-discussion.
	Resolved: Minute No. WWC 18104 “That the Committee: (i) notes the report; and (ii) agrees to hold a workshop on Wednesday, 2 May 2018 commencing at 9.45am at Wellington Water Limited to discuss options for a sustainable water supply.”
9.	Company Update Report (18/131) Report No. WWC2018/1/11 by Wellington Water Ltd
	The Board Chair, Wellington Water Limited (WWL) elaborated on the report. He stated the bore programme was progressing satisfactory. He advised that the 3 Waters document captured all the regional challenges, wider environmental issues and the requirements of the National Policy Statement. Mayor Tana joined the meeting at 2.20pm. The Board Chair, WWL explained the wastewater network was the subject of a strategic case, with investigative work underway. He added the issue was dealt with under resilience and water quality.
	Resolved: Minute No. WWC 18105 “That the Committee notes and receives Wellington Water Limited’s Company Update report.”
10.	Draft Water Quality Framework Report (18/128) Memorandum dated 9 February 2018 by the Divisional Manager, Democratic Services, Hutt City Council
	The Chief Executive, Hutt City Council elaborated on the memorandum. He explained the focus was on collaboration between local authorities. He added that the likelihood of Central Government regulation in the area was high and that the service model needed to be promoted as an efficient way to deal with water. Members noted the amendments to the Water Quality Framework report raised by Cr Brash wherein the authors of the report had neglected to incorporate prior to publishing.
	Resolved: Minute No. WWC 18106 “That the Committee receives and notes the draft report on the Water Quality Framework attached as Appendix 1 to the memorandum.”
11.	Chair's Verbal Update (18/231) The Chair advised he was continuing his weekly conversations with Wellington Water Limited (WWL) and monthly meetings with the Board Chair of WWL. He explained he was meeting with the Minister of Local Government tomorrow to explain the structure of WWL and how the company was operating. In regard to the three Wairarapa local authorities becoming part of the Committee, the Chair advised he had put this matter on hold as only two of the three local authorities wished to pursue this. The Chair agreed to meet with the new Chief Executive Officer from Kapiti Coast District Council and would report back to the Committee. The Chair stressed that it was vital the WWL model remained in the forefront of the Local Government Commission’s awareness.

12. EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC

Resolved: Minute No. WWC 18107

“That the public be excluded from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting, namely:

13. Minutes - 22 November 2017

14. Board Membership (18/115)

(A)	(B)	(C)

General subject of the matter to be considered.	Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter.	Ground under section 48(1) for the passing of this resolution.

Minutes of the Wellington Water Committee held on 22 November 2017

Board Membership.	The withholding of the information is necessary to protect the privacy of natural persons. (s7(2)(a)).	That the public conduct of the relevant part of the proceedings of the meeting would be likely to result in the disclosure of information for which good reason for withholding exist.

There being no further business the Chair declared the meeting closed at 2.42pm and the non-public portion of the meeting closed at 2.53pm.

Deputy Mayor D Bassett

CHAIR

CONFIRMED as a true and correct record

Dated this 29th day of May 2018

MEMORANDUM 18 29 May 2018

Our Reference 18/809

TO: Chair and Members

Wellington Water Committee

FROM: External Author (Wellington Water Ltd)

DATE: 14 May 2018

SUBJECT: Company Update Report

Recommendation

That the Wellington Water Committee notes and receives the Company Update Report.

Purpose of Memorandum

To provide the Wellington Water Committee with assurance the company is performing well and on top of issues.

Operational Update

The Three Waters Review and Havelock North Inquiry

During 2016 the Havelock North water supply was contaminated with bacteria making some 5,000 people sick. An Inquiry was subsequently undertaken which made many recommendations, some of them urgent and necessary.

All residents across the metropolitan area of our region receive safe drinking water in compliance with all the recommendations of the Havelock North Inquiry. This is not the case across New Zealand where it was estimated some 800,000 people could have “at risk” water costing some $300-$500M to rectify. Government is yet to respond formally to Stage 2 of the Inquiry’s recommendations.

In the meantime the Minister of Local Government has announced a Three Waters Review which is due for completion in October 2018. This review will look at the service delivery of all three waters; stormwater, wastewater and drinking water, and is aligned with some aspects of the Havelock North Inquiry results to date.

One could assume from this announcement that:

a) Central Government will focus its water leadership through the Department of Internal Affairs with Minister Mahuta being the responsible Minister. This suggests the DIA will co-ordinate across Ministry of Health, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and Ministry for the Environment; and

b) Wider regulation is being considered rather than just drinking water. Regulation could be extended to stormwater and waste water discharge, economic oversight and a customer ombudsman.

The review will consider funding and financing of three waters services. This will include growth as some commentators see a lack of front loaded investment in infrastructure as constraining growth. The review will also include the effectiveness of service delivery, including possible consolidation of water suppliers and transparency of performance to customers.

There is a more comprehensive paper within the agenda on how we propose to respond to the review as a region.

Progress on Havelock North Inquiry Initiatives

You may recall that the Havelock North Inquiry suggested increased collaboration between Regional Public Health (RPH), water suppliers, regional councils and other key players in public health.

We have been making good progress establishing our Joint Working Group (JWG). A draft MOU has been circulated. The goal is to get this finalised and signed by all parties (via council meetings) by 30 June 2018. This includes agreeing a governance structure. Greater Wellington Regional Council, RPH, and Wellington Water have co-invested in project management resource until 30 June to get the JWG up and running. Our next steps are developing a work programme/plan for the 2018/19 year for agreement with councils and terms of reference, likely to be similar to those from other JWG’s around the country.

We are also progressing the regional water safety plan, looking at critical control points from a risk perspective.

As promised in our new SOI we have also started understanding cultural elements of the six principles, starting with the Duty of Care and discussing what this means with staff and how we can take more ownership of water quality (and other related issues).

Future Service Studies

The Three Waters Strategy developed to support the Long Term Plans of Councils suggested eight issues affecting the future provision of services need to be studied.

Following the five weeks of very dry weather in November the region thought the first study should be how to provide sustainable water supply to our customers.

The study was launched via a workshop with the Wellington Water Committee and other interested parties. It was a successful day and its output is further discussed in a separate report.

Our Statement of Intent

The Board of Wellington Water has approved the final Statement of Intent. We are very pleased with its customer focus, particularly the section on our customer promise. This ensures our performance to customers is transparent.

Our Performance

We performed satisfactorily across all our activities over the quarter (see Attachment 1 attached to the memorandum) and are generally on track for a good result at year end.

Some insights include:

a) We have published our new regional report on the customer for this quarter (see Attachment 2 attached to the memorandum). Let us know what you think. Next quarter we propose to release our Drinking Water Report which will address the six principles recommended by the Havelock North Inquiry. Two of these principles are cultural. One is to provide the highest duty of care to customers because safe drinking water is a public health issue and to “own” the provision of providing “safe” drinking water to customers;

b) We had a major contamination scare at Pukerua Bay during the quarter. After a contractor punched a pile through both our water and wastewater main the contractor then turned the water supply off resulting in wastewater being sucked into the drinking water network. We established our full emergency management office and averted any potential risk. During our lessons learned review we noticed how much effort it took to look after 150 customers let alone the 15,000 affected by the Havelock North Inquiry. We have not developed a full answer if we ever had to respond to a wider issue than the 150 customers but this will be addressed as we launch our new operations and maintenance vehicle from 1 July 2019;

c) The Community Infrastructure Resilience project continues at a pace with completion forecast for October 2018. T his project will deliver 20 litres of water per person per day within 1,000m of customer’s houses. It will put a major dent in the time required to provide potable water to customers following a large seismic event. This risk is further reduced if people store water at home. We are slowly progressing this “more water stored at home” campaign with WREMO; and

d) The National Policy Statement for Urban Development Capacity requires councils to report on the infrastructure needs to support growth by the end of 2018. There has been some delay with finalising the forecast of growth across the region but we are now underway and will have broad brush results for three waters in time for the deadline. As a region we do not want to underestimate the importance of this work and its contribution to meeting the housing demands of the region.

High Level Assistance for the Wairarapa

We have been asked to provide some advice to Carterton District Council on its new wastewater treatment plant and to the South Wairarapa District Council on some large renewals work they are doing.

Health and Safety

Our focus at the moment is on:

a) Critical Risks: In-attentive or speeding drivers through work sites and “moving” plant is our current focus. Our recent 2017 trend data confirms these are our major risks in terms of serious harm or death; and

b) We are engaging well with our supply networks on ensuring we have a culture of safe work practices underlying everything we do.

The health and safety dashboard is attached as Attachment 3 to the memorandum.

Appendices

No.	Title	Page
1 ⇩	Three Waters Dashboard Final	19
2 ⇩	Customer report Q3 2017-18 Final	20
3 ⇩	HSE Monthly Report Final	22

Author: External Author (Wellington Water Ltd)

MEMORANDUM 27 29 May 2018

Our Reference 18/794

TO: Chair and Members

Wellington Water Committee

FROM: External Author (Wellington Water Ltd)

DATE: 10 May 2018

SUBJECT: Sustainable Water Supply Update

Recommendation

That the Committee notes and receives the memorandum.

Background

The Sustainable Water Supply Future Service Study arose out of the Three Waters Strategy and it is the first of several studies that Wellington Water Ltd will complete over the next few years.

At the previous Wellington Water Committee meeting it was agreed to start with this study having just gone through the summer period and realising how important it is to know we have sustainable water supply now and in the future.

At the 2 May Wellington Water Committee Workshop we identified a number of pressures on the supply of water (ie population growth and attitudes towards using water, climate change and weather extremes, as well as sea level rise, limits on water quantity to be set via the Whaitua process and Natural Resources Plan).

Before we started this work we anticipated that we would need a new water source (costing approximately $200m) by 2040 to cope with projected demand and growth.

The question remains – do we need to build a new asset to store and process water or are non-asset solutions (and or/a combination of them) the answer? In order to answer this question we first need to understand the nature of the problem which is why we are applying the business case methodology to this work.

Summary of the 2 May Workshop

The workshop started with a video on Cape Town where the water supply was going to be turned off when consumption reached a certain level and the impact it was having on the community. While this is unlikely in New Zealand, especially in Wellington, it was a sobering reminder that it could happen in the future if we don’t start building in sustainability of supply now.

The Minister of Local Government used an old Chinese proverb when she spoke to a recent Water New Zealand audience: "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now." This reinforces discussion at the workshop around whether we should be planning 50 years or out 100 years. Ultimately we plan for future generations.

There was discussion about water being a finite resource and a treasure for the future. Water needs to be managed with this in mind. We need to think of water as it sits in the natural world - we live in a system and operate within those limits. We are stewards of a limited resource that is critical for our people and communities in a cultural, economic, social and environmental sense to have access to sufficient water.

While there are interdependencies between the quality and quantity of water available (ie changing definition of security of source and new limits on takes from rivers to improve quality of water), our focus will be on quantity of water in a supply and demand sense. We are planning a separate future service study on water quality.

Participants also noted that we need to mitigate the impact of growth, land use and climate change (ie sea level rise and droughts) into our planning. We also need to ensure we maintain and protect our catchments now and in the future. The strategic case should also consider the tension that exists between growth/economic development and protecting the environment and trade-off’s that may need to be made.

The process

The next stage is for the officers of Council and Wellington Water to work through the formal business case process. This includes what we call Investment Logic Mapping (ILM). ILM is a disciplined process of defining problems, benefits and success factors of an issue. The strategic case determines whether there is a case for change.

We will bring the Strategic Case to the Wellington Water Committee for discussion and approval in due course.

Update

We concluded our first workshop to define the problem statements for this work. The majority of the region’s Councils were in the room. The first cut of the problem statements were:

· The demand problem – current water usage combined with population growth is leading to more frequent water shortages

· The vulnerability problem – threats to our vulnerable water sources and networks are compromising out ability to maintain supply

· The supply problem - reduction in available water is constraining our ability to supply the community’s needs.

It was recognised that there is a disconnect between community water values and community water behaviour which is exacerbating pressure on the sustainable supply of water. The key is finding a balance between meeting community and environmental needs.

Author: External Author (Wellington Water Ltd)

Our Reference 18/747

TO: Chair and Members

Wellington Water Committee

FROM: Kathryn Stannard

DATE: 23 May 2018

SUBJECT: Statement of Intent 2018-2021

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Committee:-

(i) notes that the Board for Wellington Water Limited has approved its Statement of Intent 2018-2021; and

(ii) receives the final Wellington Water Limited’s Statement of Intent 2018-2021 attached as Appendix 1 to the memorandum.

Purpose of Memorandum

1. To provide the final Statement of Intent (SOI) to the Wellington Water Committee which aligns with and supports achievement of the Wellington Water Committee’s Letter of Expectations.

Background

2. The draft SOI was considered by the Wellington Water Committee on 1 March 2018. The shareholding Councils’ chief executives were contacted after this meeting for any final feedback; no further comments were provided.

3. The Board of Wellington Water Ltd (the company) has now approved the final SOI which included only minor adjustments from the draft considered by the Committee. The Board has endorsed its release to the Wellington Water Committee and shareholding councils, as required under the Local Government Act 2002 by 30 June each year.

4. The SOI will be used to guide the company’s business over the next three years. This is the first true three year SOI with three year targets. It will support the company’s move to a three year rolling budget and work programme.

Statement of Intent

5. The SOI describes how the company contributes to the local community and then explains how the company gets water to and from communities and what it does for customers (the company’s customer promise). The company’s focus is on providing good customer experience and cost effective service.

6. The section called ‘keeping the water running’ explains how the company delivers its customer promise by preparing for growth, providing operational and maintenance services, improving services and how the company responds in emergencies.

7. The SOI communicates about how it works as a company to deliver for customers. This section focuses on growing capability, working collaboratively with customers and iwi and creating highest value for money services. The SOI also communicates briefly about how the world is changing around us.

8. Appendix 1 contains information about what’s influencing the company in its operating environment, who the company is, its service goals and finances that meet Local Government Act 2002 requirements.

Appendices

No.	Title	Page
1 ⇩	WWL SOI Final	28

Author: Kathryn Stannard

Divisional Manager, Democratic Services

Approved By: Tony Stallinger

Chief Executive

MEMORANDUM 66 29 May 2018

Our Reference 18/848

TO: Chair and Members

Wellington Water Committee

FROM: Tony Stallinger

DATE: 22 May 2018

SUBJECT: Three Waters Review Submission

Recommendation

That the Committee:

(i) invites all neighbouring councils to participate in developing a submission to the Government’s Three Waters Review; and

(ii) notes that Wellington Water Ltd will facilitate the process.

Introduction

1. On 27 April 2018, the Minister of Local Government advised the nation’s water sector leaders (see Appendix 1 to the memorandum) that Government was undertaking a broad ranging review of the way the three waters are managed in New Zealand. The review comprises four work steams to address:

· Regulation – including effective oversight, regulatory settings and institutional arrangements;

· Finance and funding – including options for funding three waters infrastructure;

· Capacity and capability – of decision makers and water supply operators; and

· Information – for transparency, accountability and decision making.

2. Wellington Water Committee Chair David Bassett, has responded to the Minister’s letter (see Appendix 2 to the memorandum), indicating the support of the Committee and Wellington Water Ltd for the review, and that Wellington Water Ltd will develop a knowledge sharing initiative with the region’s councils.

Background

3. Interest in addressing the challenges of three waters management appears to be reaching a peak in central Government. Local Government NZ has proposed a three waters co-regulatory approach to central government. Stages 1 and 2 of the Havelock North Inquiry have been released, resulting in several recommendations relating to three waters management. Alongside the Inquiry, the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has completed the issue identification phase of the Three Waters Review announced last year. The latest announcement by the Minister has broadened the scope of the DIA’s work to include regulation, and brings in several other Government agencies to embark on an engagement process with the sector. The DIA will report back to Cabinet in October this year.

Our Approach

4. We are waiting to hear from the DIA about how we can participate in their formal engagement process. In the meantime, we would like to take a proactive approach and develop our own submission on behalf of the region to the Minister of Local Government and the DIA that represents the views of councils that participate in this process (including neighbouring councils, if they wish to be involved).

5. We think it is a good opportunity to influence both central and local government in how they decide to shape the water sector. We can bring hands-on experience to the table to ensure that future changes are practical and easily implemented. We can also share how we have worked across the region leveraging the benefits of scale.

Development of the Submission

6. The intention is that we both think through all the issues ourselves from a first principles basis, and work alongside the DIA process.

7. We propose this is done through workshops involving senior council and other stakeholders to explore what are the concerns and opportunities, and how we can frame these to provide guidance back into the review process. A stakeholder analysis will guide how we engage with other agencies.

8. Wellington Water Ltd will establish a project team to facilitate this process and produce a submission that we can all own.

9. While we will consider all four work streams of the DIA review, we do not want to be constrained by them, as there could be other key issues we want to talk about in our submission.

10. The submission could take the following approach for example:

· Take a national view but with a regional lens;

· Consider the wider context but ground it with reality in a practical/implementation sense (based on our experience);

· Consider 3 waters interdependencies;

· Reinforce public ownership; and

· Keep consumers and communities at the heart (reliability, access etc).

11. The final submission will be available at the end of August, endorsed by the Chief Executives’ Forum and then by the Wellington Water Committee (plus neighbouring councils), before being provided to the Minister of Local Government and the DIA.

Appendices

No.	Title	Page
1 ⇩	Letter Minister LG Three Waters Review	67
2 ⇩	MinisternewLGReviewResponse	68

Author: Tony Stallinger

Chief Executive

Approved By: Tony Stallinger

Chief Executive

Attachment 2

MinisternewLGReviewResponse

Deputy Mayor Bassett

Wellington Water Committee

C/- Hutt City Council

Private Bag 31912

Lower Hutt 5040

Mobile: 021 135 9391

9 May 2018

The Hon Nanaia Mahuta
Minister for Local Government
Parliament Office
Private Bag 18 888
Parliament Buildings
Wellington 6160

Tēnā koe Nanaia

Three Waters Review

As discussed at our meeting in late February and in my letter of 5 March, I would like to reconfirm support for the changes coming out of the Three Waters Review and the Havelock North Inquiry, particularly the integrated approach being adopted for three waters.

As you are aware, Wellington Water Ltd was set up to take a regional approach across all three waters on behalf of shareholding councils. As a region, I have seen the benefits of their model maturing over the last few years. This has included bringing the customer into their business, incentivising efficient and effective delivery through their supply chain and facilitating a regional approach to investment in water assets.

The Wellington Water Committee will continue to encourage Wellington Water Ltd’s model to develop further and in alignment with proposed changes from the Review and the Inquiry.

The Wellington Water Committee believes that Wellington Water Ltd is in a strong position to support the Review. As a region we have agreed to take a regional view of the proposed changes (including the four work streams coming out of the Review). I look forward to sharing this work with yourself and the Department of Internal Affairs.

We are supporting Wellington Water Ltd in the development of a knowledge sharing initiative with neighbouring councils. This makes sense given Wellington Water Ltd’s mass of expertise and potential changes arising from the Review and the Inquiry.

As mentioned in my previous letter, both Wellington Water Committee and Wellington Water Ltd have advised that they are available to support the Review in any way possible.

Yours sincerely

David Bassett

Chair of the Wellington Water Committee

Deputy Mayor D Bassett (Chair)	Hutt City Council
Mayor W Guppy (Deputy Chair)	Upper Hutt City Council
Mayor M Tana	Porirua City Council
Cr C I Pannett	Wellington City Council
Cr J Brash	Greater Wellington Regional Council
Cr D Ogden	Greater Wellington Regional Council (Alternate)
Mayor WR Wallace	Hutt City Council (Alternate)
Cr R Leggett	Porirua City Council (Alternate)
Cr G McArthur	Upper Hutt City Council (Alternate)
Cr P Gilberd	Wellington City Council (Alternate)