The second Bill in the Government’s suite of Local Water Done Well legislation passed this week - the Local
Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Act 2024 (Act). The passing of the Act starts the
clock for submission by councils of their water services delivery plans (Plans). Plans must be prepared,
consulted on where required and submitted to the Secretary for Local Government by 3 September 2025, with limited ability for extensions. We set out the key aspects of the Plans, and the Act generally, below.
Water services delivery plans
A Plan must identify the council’s current state of their water services and demonstrate publicly its
commitment to deliver water services in way that is financially sustainable, meets all relevant regulatory
requirements, and supports its housing growth and urban development.
Prescribed content
The Act prescribes what councils must include in their Plans and the process for preparing, adopting, and
approving Plans. One core component that must be included in a council’s Plan is the anticipated or
proposed model or arrangements for delivering water services. This includes whether the council is likely to
enter into a joint arrangement with other councils or will continue to deliver water services in its district alone.
We discussed the models available to councils, to be provided in the third Bill, in our previous alert here.
Where councils anticipate or propose to deliver water services with other councils, such councils may
choose to develop and submit a joint Plan. If two or more councils decide to submit a joint Plan, those
councils are only required to prepare one Plan in respect of the joint service area. Further consideration to
timeframes and consultation may be required by councils who are considering delivering water services
through a joint arrangement, and in particular, whether an extension to the Plan deadline should be sought.
Consultation and decision-making requirements
A council must consult on its anticipated or proposed model or arrangement for delivering water services in
its Plan and ensure that its consultation and decision-making complies with Part 3 of the Act.
Part 3 sets out the streamlined ‘alternative requirements’ in place of certain consultation and decisionmaking requirements required under the Local Government Act 2002 (LGA). When a council complies with
an ‘alternative requirement’, it does not need to comply with the corresponding requirement in the LGA.
Except as provided in Part 3, all relevant requirements in the LGA continue to apply.
Under Part 3 of the Act, when making decisions in relation to its anticipated or proposed model or
arrangement for delivering water services in its Plan, a council is only required to identify and assess the
advantages and disadvantages of two options (as opposed to identifying all reasonably practicable options):
- remaining with the existing approach for delivering water services; and
- establishing, joining, or amending (as the case may be) a water services council-controlled organisation or a joint local government arrangement.
However, a council may also identify and assess additional options. The Act does not require a council to
consult generally on the Plan, but if a council does choose to do so, the council must consult in accordance
with Part 3.
Implementation
Councils are required to give effect to the proposals or undertakings in its Plan. This is particularly relevant to
a council’s ‘implementation plan’ that must provide the council’s time frames and milestones for delivering its
proposed model or arrangements. Councils should carefully consider the level of detail it includes in its
implementation plan, given that councils are required to give effect to this. The Minister may appoint a Crown
facilitator or a Crown water services specialist where a council has not given effect to its Plan.
Extensions
All councils must prepare and submit their Plans to the Secretary for Local Government by 3 September 2025.
The Minister may grant an extension, following an application by a council, if the extension is required for
one of the prescribed reasons set out in the Act. For example, the council requires an extension to consult
with its communities about forming a joint arrangement with other councils to provide water services, to
conclude negotiations in relation to that joint arrangement, or for any other reason the Minister considers
justifiable. The Minister may also grant an extension, despite not receiving an application from a council, in
exceptional circumstances. Councils can submit a request for an extension until 3 August 2025, being 1 month before the Plan’s due date.
Ministerial assistance/intervention
Under the Act, there are various scenarios in which the Minister may provide assistance or otherwise
intervene in the development of a Plan:
- A council, or group of councils, may request the Minister to appoint a Crown facilitator and/or a Crown water services specialist to assist it to prepare its Plan (at the council’s expense).
- The Minister may also choose to appoint a Crown facilitator if the Minister reasonably believes that a council is unlikely to submit its Plan in accordance with the Act or where a group of councils is having trouble agreeing the terms of a joint Plan.
- The Minister may appoint a Crown water services specialist if a council fails to submit its Plan on time, or, following its submission, fails to amend and resubmit a compliant Plan in accordance with the Secretary’s requirements. A council must cooperate with the facilitator/specialist and comply with any reasonable information request and direction.
Future amendments
Following the acceptance of a Plan, a council may amend and resubmit its Plan to the Secretary of Local Government within 24 months of the Act coming into force where such amendments relate to the proposed delivery model or arrangement and are significant and necessary due to exceptional circumstances.
Other features of the Act
The Act also sets out details relating to Auckland and Watercare. Specifically, that Watercare will be
financially separate from Auckland Council, and that Watercare, rather than Auckland Council, has the
legislative responsibility for delivering water and wastewater to Aucklanders. We discuss this further in our
previous alert here.
The Act also provides for information disclosure including the requirement for councils and council-controlled
organisations providing water services to disclose certain information, where such disclosure would promote
the long-term benefit of consumers and support efficiency, innovation, and investment.
With local authority elections in 2025, Councils need to act quickly to meet the statutory deadlines. Guidance
on the Government’s Local Water Done Well policy is available on the DIA’s website.
Pease reach out to one of our experts if you would like to discuss what this means for your council.
This article was co-authored by Rebecca Neil, a Solicitor in our Construction and Infrastructure team.
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