This is a story about Local Water Done Well (LWDW) and how it is possible to push back at Central Government and represent your voters at the same time.

When the NPDC met to decide on LWDW - and ignore the majority of submitters who wanted to keep LWDW in-house in NP - Mayor Holdom made a comment that he would leave the door open for Stratford and South Taranaki to come back and join a regional CCO.

Holdom felt the Government DIA would not allow them to go it alone with an in-house water set up.

We weren’t sure if there was any truth to the statement. Holdom said the DIA had written to Stratford District Council, so we wrote and asked for a copy of that letter.

We have to say Stratford was very streamlined with getting a reply back to us, other OIA’s we have done have mostly taken the full 20 working days, both locally and with Central Government.

What Neil Holdom had said was correct – the Government, via the DIA, has written to Stratford and questioned their ability to fund their water requirements going forward. (The OIA letter is attached).

Stratford has already proven they are up to date with their renewals - and they have not borrowed all they are able to borrow - to be up to date NOW.

The DIA states: “Through analysis of your long term plan, the Department has concerns the Council will face significant barriers to achieving financial sustainability through a standalone model. As part of a Taranaki regional grouping, we believe that your council would have been significantly better placed to address these barriers.”

There is no mention of WHAT barriers in the letter.

As part of a CCO Regional Grouping Stratford would be using LGFA funding to meet their LWDW obligations. As an in-house unit they need to finance outside of the LGFA.

So, the NZ Government is the biggest shareholder in LGFA, and they are pressuring Councils that don’t meet the criteria they have set for water, to join a regional grouping, so they are pressured to borrow money from “their Government” lending source – the LGFA.

What is going on here ?

Where is the democracy here ?

The people of Stratford don’t want a big Water corporation. They have very little debt, they are up to date with renewing their infrastructure in Stratford, and they already have economy of scale purchasing power by being part of a joint arrangement to keeps costs down for the Taranaki Region.

Why is the NZ Government pushing an undemocratic situation on a region who does not carry a lot of debt - and does not want to take on substantial debt owing in other parts of the region.

Where does a democratic consultation process fit with the NZ Government pressuring communities to accept a situation they said they do not want ?

We are living in a very strange world when the Government and Councils are the entities who lend the money out – so is it taxpayers and ratepayers who are providing that money to lend out (?) – and the Government takes the interest payments from those loans - and they are now pressuring Councils who chose not to use their Government LGFA funding scheme to sign up and use the scheme.

Did we miss the memo that told us we are no longer a democratic society ?

The Stratford District Council has gone back to the DIA with an update of their plans and are hopeful they will meet the threshold that has been set, and hopeful they will implement what their ratepayers and renters prefer for Stratford. (Daily News story attached).

It’s a shame Neil Holdom and all the Councillors who mostly said yes when voting, didn’t have the fortitude to represent their community in the way Stratford is representing theirs.

Sadly for New Plymouth, the amount of debt that has been accumulated in recent years would mean we have to use LGFA funding as we have already borrowed close to our limits on rates income and NP needs a new CCO company structure so we can borrow to a higher level for infrastructure.

It is really important when we are picking the next group of Mayor and Councillors this year, we find people with fortitude and the ability to represent the community of New Plymouth.

And, we need people who are talking about bringing down costs (operational costs - not stripping our community services) – and people who are discussing repaying debt.

https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360803223/stratford-hold-water-independence

P.S We asked the NPDC who knew about the LGFA 270% rates income guarantee at the NPDC.

That question we asked wasn’t answered - but we did get a 3 ½ page reply from Neil Holdom, about the LGFA, which we will share soon.