Dunedin city councillor Jim O’Malley said an accountability and governance working group’s recommendations to the Government did not fundamentally change what was wrong with the proposed reforms.
Lack of clarity about ownership of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater assets had not been resolved, he said.
Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher said the case for reform had been built on flawed assumptions and, though the group’s recommendations were helpful, he doubted they would do much to shift strong opposition.
Among the group’s recommendations was the creation of council shares in regional water services entities.
This should provide comfort for people worried about "assets being stolen" from their communities, Central Otago Mayor and working group member Tim Cadogan said.
Introducing sub-regional representative groups could help allay concern about local voices getting lost, he said.
"What we’ve proposed is, I think, much better than what the Government came up with," Mr Cadogan said.
The Government is to consider the group’s feedback before deciding in what manner it will press on.
Dunedin Mayor Aaron Hawkins hoped that Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta would take the recommendations seriously.
This could start with "an acknowledgement that our communities have been poorly served by the quality and quantity of information being made available to them by Government".
Mr Hawkins said the working group’s recommendations would enable communities to have greater input into service delivery planning and consumers would have protection from a water ombudsman, alongside an economic regulator.
"The stronger support for Te Mana o Te Wai and iwi Maori involvement in water services delivery is also welcome," Mr Hawkins said.
"The ongoing ownership of the assets is spelled out through the councils alone becoming shareholders in the entities, which should kill off the misinformation around them being either confiscated or transferred into iwi ownership."
Mr Hawkins said the working group demonstrated the importance of taking a constructive approach, "rather than a combative one".
Mr Hawkins said there were stronger protections against the possibility of privatisation.
Cr O’Malley did not agree, as a future government could still overturn provisions.
He said the group had worked within narrow confines.
Mr O’Malley highlighted that people who paid rent would receive water bills, rather than their landlords.
Another Dunedin councillor, Andrew Whiley, said the Government seemed to be rushing through its programme.
Mr Whiley remained concerned about economic impacts on the city.
