Northland to establish new cross-council water organisation
Kaipara Civil Defence
04 August 2025, 6:51 PM
Joint press release issued by Whangarei District Council, Kaipara District Council and Far North District Council.
Whangarei, Kaipara and Far North District Councils have agreed to establish a Northland-wide Council Controlled Organisation (CCO) to deliver drinking water and wastewater services from July 2027.
The recommendation to each council to form the CCO came after careful consideration by the Northland Local Water Done Well Working Group, which is made up of elected members and advisor David Hawkins, and supported by staff from each council to explore collaboration opportunities.
Andrew Carvell, WDC General Manager for Waters, says that working together via a CCO offers greater long-term benefits and the strongest path forward for the region.
“The new CCO will help ensure all of Northland can meet the increased compliance requirements under Local Water Done Well and address growth across the region, while ensuring charges are fair for the residents and ratepayers of each district,” says Mr Carvell.
Advantages of the CCO include cost efficiencies through shared resources, reduced duplication and economies of scale over time, improved borrowing capacity, enhanced resilience through a larger, shared workforce, improved ability to deliver large-scale capital programmes and respond to legislative changes, as well as a commercially focused board and management team.
A major focus for the Working Group was to determine a financial model that recognises the different starting points of each council in terms of water assets, debt levels and infrastructure investment needs.
“Councils have agreed to a model that will see financials ring-fenced for each district and have non-harmonised water charges to start with, meaning water charges are different for residents in each district,” says Mr Carvell.
It is expected that during its first three years, the CCO would be able to identify and prioritise some of the critical issues each district is facing and then be in a position to review its approach to finances and water charges.
“There are still many details to work through, but we are exploring further measures to ensure the CCO will be equally beneficial for each district, and set the right path towards harmonised water charges,” says Mr Carvell.
Stormwater assets would remain with each council in terms of decision making and costs, but a shared service arrangement could be made with the CCO for operations.
All three councils will now work together to prepare a water services delivery plan, which must be submitted to Central Government by 3 September 2025.
“As plans progress, each council is committed to working closely with any teams affected by the change,” says Mr Carvell.
More information about Local Water Done Well can be found below:
