Ashburton Mayor Neil Brown is among mayors welcoming the National Party’s announcement of a water reform policy that better protects property rights and local voice.

Opposition leader Christopher Luxon announced the policy at the weekend and Mayor Brown said it aligned much better with the Ashburton District Council’s position of placing local control and local voice back at the centre of community water services.

“Council strongly opposes the Three Waters Reforms as Government has proposed them at the moment and National’s policy is in line with what we and our ratepayers want. We have carefully managed and grown our Three Waters infrastructure over the years and believe that ownership and control should stay with us.”

Ashburton District Council is among 30 local authorities who have formed Communities 4 Local Democracy He hapori mō te Manapori (C4LD) out of their concerns over the Government’s Three Waters reforms, which would see all drinking water, wastewater and stormwater assets in the country controlled by four large Water Services Entities.

Mayor Brown said the reforms really needed all political parties to work together on a pragmatic, workable solution.

“We all just want a sensible plan that works for everyone.”

C4LD chairs Manawatu Mayor Helen Worboys and Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon spoke for the group on Saturday after Mr Luxon announced the policy.

“Although we will carry out a more detailed review in conjunction with C4LD members, at first look, National’s policy appears to meet all of our requirements for commonsense water infrastructure reform that can gain broad support,” Mayor Worboys said.

“In particular it retains local ownership and avoids the confiscation of local assets and stripping of local influence at the core of the Government’s present policy.

“As recently as Tuesday, the High Court confirmed that the Government’s policy expropriates, without compensation, community assets. This makes a nonsense of claims that communities will retain ownership of these assets.”

Mayor Gordon said that on the face of it, the plan aligned with member councils’ thinking, and put the right measures in place to ensure overall accountability.

“We feel there is sufficient rigour in the proposed regulatory regime, and with Taumata Arowai now in place, to ensure that council water services will meet the needs of their communities and can evolve to meet the challenges of climate change in an affordable manner.

“At first glance, this seems a sensible and appropriate response to genuine concerns about the state of water infrastructure in New Zealand.

“It recognises that different areas are in different positions and it encourages regional collaboration to address these differing needs. This approach ensures that local knowledge of complex systems is valued, rather than the ‘Wellington knows best’ system being proposed.”