The Rocklands rural water scheme is now owned by those it supplies.
A proposal to transfer ownership of the scheme from the Dunedin City Council to a community entity was passed 21:1 in a binding referendum of scheme members and landowners supplied by it held on May 9.
The $2.1 million scheme was divested from the council for $1 yesterday, and the targeted rate charged to its members removed from their rates bills.
The scheme supplies drinking water mainly to livestock, as well as some homes and shearers' quarters, to 12 farms and 55 people in the Rocklands area, south of Middlemarch.
Farmers in the Rocklands area built the scheme in 1984, in conjunction with the then Silverpeaks County Council and with some government funding, but the city council took ownership with amalgamation in 1989.
Its ownership status had been disputed by users and the transfer of ownership allows the council to reduce overheads and maintenance costs and avoid the potential of a major capital upgrade to meet higher drinking water standards. Councillors noted its transfer at their meeting on June 24.
