Council to hold public workshop on water plan

Published on 24 November 2025

Compliance with regulations, asset management, and delivery options on the agenda.

Waitaki District Council will hold a public workshop about the development of its Water Services Delivery Plan from 9am at Council HQ on Tuesday 25 November.

The workshop follows the appointment of the Hon. Amy Adams as Crown facilitator, and her advice that Council reconsider all available options when creating a new Water Services Delivery Plan. This includes revisiting assets, compliance requirements, and alternative delivery models for water services.

Chief Executive Alex Parmley says, “Council held public workshops on the development of our Water Services Delivery Plan in July and August and will continue to keep the public informed on this new journey of creating and submitting an amended plan.”

The workshop will include information about Waitaki’s current compliance with treatment and infrastructure standards. Council currently has projects underway to address compliance issues on its rural supplies, and the Mayor and Councillors will get a progress update on these.

Joshua Rendell, Infrastructure Manager, says: "We have quite a lot of work ahead of us to ensure our supplies meet the standards now required of them. Some of these issues can be fixed quickly, while others will take a concerted effort over a long period of time. Unfortunately, there aren't quick fixes to many of our non-compliances."

There will also be an update on the asset condition review requested by the DIA – including the brief and cost for more targeted investigation of Waitaki’s water network. This will be ahead of the 9 December meeting of Council, where the Mayor and Councillors will make a decision about the next step.

Paul Hayes, Assets Planning Manager, says: “We know the age and materials of our waters networks, and have records of repairs and other issues. After an independent review of that data, we are able to see what needs a closer look to improve our knowledge of the condition of our below-ground assets.” T

his will be followed by a presentation from Stuart Cross of Morrison Low, about the in-house or partnership options available. The deadline for resubmitting a new Water Services Delivery Plan is 30 June 2026. The workshop will be recorded and uploaded to YouTube later.

ENDS

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