A win-win for Hawke’s Bay, say council leaders
Hawke’s Bay mayors have had a local council equivalent of winning the Ranfurly Shield as the Government scrapped its mega-entities Three Waters plan.
The region was the source of the original plan, which stemmed from inquiries into the Havelock North water crisis seven years ago. The plan announced in 2020 proposed that control of drinking, waste and stormwater management by 67 councils would be taken over by four new regional entities by July next year.
Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty, whose Wairarapa electorate includes Central Hawke’s Bay and the Dannevirke-headquartered Tararua district, announced on Thursday there would now be 10 entities – with the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council area of Wairoa, Napier, Hastings and CHB being joined by Gisborne in a Gisborne/Hawke’s Bay body, and the implementation deadline pushed back two years to mid-2026.
Tararua would come within a Manawatū-Whanganui entity.
Link to article: Three Waters reform: A win-win for Hawke’s Bay, say council leaders - NZ Herald
