Nelson will miss out on $15 million of government funding following the changes made to the Three Waters reform.
The funding was part of the $2 billion Better Off financial support package that was planned to be distributed among the country’s local councils to support community well-being.
The first tranche of $500 million, from which Nelson City Council received $5.18 million, hasn’t been affected.
“The loss of any government investment into our region is obviously disappointing, particularly a significant sum like $15.54 million,” said acting mayor Rohan O’Neill-Stevens.
But they add that council was yet to explore how that funding would be used and so council planning and projects are “largely unaffected”.
The Three Waters reform involved the creation of four water services entities that would take over the management of drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater from councils.
Nelson, Tasman, and Marlborough were originally planned to be in an entity alongside Wellington and the east coast of the North Island. However, concerns were raised about a lack of local representation.
Following the changes made to the reforms, now called Affordable Waters by the Government, the Top of the South will have its own water services entity – one of ten new entities.
Nelson MP Rachel Boyack said that the Government has responded to calls from many councils asking for smaller entities with more local input at the representation level.
“Nelson City Council, in particular, made a strong call for a smaller Top of the South entity, and we have listened to that request and acted on it,” she said. “However, there will be additional costs with a larger number of entities.”
Minister of Local Government Kieran McAnulty confirmed that $1 billion of the $1.5 billion sum would have been provided by the water services entities’ borrowing.
“This will free up the same amount for the entities to invest in their drinking water, wastewater and stormwater networks,” he said. “The remaining $500 million, which was to be funded by the Crown, will instead be used to help offset the higher costs of transition and entity establishment.”
O'Neil-Stevens said the council “will continue to strongly advocate to central government for continued investment into Whakatū Nelson”.
Nelson City Council has allocated its $5.18 million of funding from the first tranche for several projects, including $2.4 million for a city centre play space, $1.1 million for lighting the Railway Reserve between Annesbrook and Saxton Field, and $1.1 million towards projects that support the local art and tourism sectors.
By Max Frethey, Local Democracy Reporter
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
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