Selwyn District Council has rubber-stamped its 2024-34 Long Term Plan, which along with a 14.9 per cent average rates rise also included a 25 per cent increase in water bills.
For those on metered water, it will now cost $1 per cubic metre of water, up from 80c in the last financial year. For those on a restricted supply, it will now cost $280 per unit up from $224.
The metered price is also expected to jump more than three times in the next decade to $3.26 per cubic metre by 2034.
Darfield Residents Association chair Harvey Polglase, who was not aware of the increase until told by Selwyn Times, said the council had not been transparent.
“That’s a big increase and to sneak it through. It’s underhanded,” he said.
Polglase said residents would not like the increase.
“Most people in our area will be extremely disappointed to hear that.”
Polglase was concerned the council was spending too much of the ratepayers’ money without concern.
“They’re obviously treating the residents as a money pit.”
Rolleston Residents Association chair Mark Alexander said he personally thought it was sneaky of the council.
“The council correctly deserves criticism that they put a lot of fee increases in a separate document and talked about them in passing but didn’t bring them to people’s attention.
“That was a little bit sneaky and when you’re putting out consultation documents which are summaries it’s convenient to miss things like that.”
The increase in water rates was not published in the 2024-34 consultation document or any of the supporting documents for the Long-Term Plan.
The only number mentioned was the water supply fixed target rate of $370, which is built into rates bills – but it was not mentioned that has also increased 20 per cent from $308 last year.
In response, Mayor Sam Broughton said because the decision had been made in the previous long-term plan it was not included in the latest round of consultation.
“We’d asked our community a few years ago (2021) how they wanted to pay for their water and whether should it be included in the value of their property or metered rates, and people came back and said it should be metered,” Broughton said
“We also talked about the rates the water charges would need to increase by and I don’t think there was much change from that earlier discussion ... So that wasn’t seen as a big thing to have a conversation on, as we’d already determined it through previous consultation.
“But hey, if the feedback is all those sorts of charges need to be highlighted up front we’ll consider that at the next long-term plan.”
Alexander was concerned by the increase in cost.
“By steadily increasing the cubic metre charge you are managing your demand.
“If you get people to use less water wisely, you get the same (fiscal) result with less water so you don’t have to put another well in or enlarge your water mains.”
Alexander was a councillor in 2021 when it was decided the water rates would go up by a higher proportion than the annual fixed rate. He said while people won’t be happy with the increase the water was good value.
“Nobody likes prices going up, but I think people will accept costs go up.
“I’m on my own well and it costs me about $1600 a year to maintain and makes the council’s water remarkably good value.”
At the same time water is increasing, rates will also rise 48 per cent over the next three years. By 2026, a $847,000 property with sewage will have a rates bill of $5341.
Before 2021, water was 50 cents per cubic metre and has been steadily rising since then.
Pre-2021, the district’s water was the cheapest in the country – and too cheap, with council staff asking for the increases to pay for maintenance costs and needed infrastructure.
The change was one of the “big decisions” of the 2021-31 Long Term Plan, with the district council asking for feedback on the topic. Of respondents who submitted on the issue, 47.4 per cent supported raising the charges more than the rates, with 17.3 per cent wanting the water rate to go up the same as the annual fixed rate.
Council executive director of infrastructure and property Tim Mason said Selwyn’s water remained one of the cheapest in New Zealand.
“Water NZ’s last national report placed Selwyn among the 10 councils with the cheapest drinking water in the country. Selwyn was also rated as having some of the newest and most reliable water infrastructure in the country,” Mason said.
“We know that 97 per cent of Selwyn residents rated water quality as being of high importance to them and in this long-term plan we have invested heavily in our water infrastructure to deliver these high-standard demands.”
In the next 10 years, the council is planning upgrades to water networks in West Melton, Springfield, Dunsandel, Hororata, Castle Hill, Sheffield and Dalethorpe.
