{"id":360261,"date":"2026-04-02T12:25:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T12:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/360261\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T12:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T12:25:09","slug":"tauranga-western-bay-councils-agree-to-form-joint-water-organisation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/360261\/","title":{"rendered":"Tauranga, Western Bay councils agree to form joint water organisation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tauranga initially voted to go it alone on water, while the Western Bay passed a tight vote for a joint approach. Tauranga then U-turned<\/a> and hopped back on board the joint waka.<\/p>\n

Other points of contention came up during the due diligence process.<\/p>\n

Today, several councillors compared the agreement to a marriage with relationship issues to sort before any agreement was made.<\/p>\n

The multi-council-controlled organisation they settled on would be in charge of delivering water supply, wastewater and stormwater services.<\/p>\n

The decision was driven by the Government\u2019s Local Water Done Well reform programmes, which required councils to adopt delivery models that ensured financial sustainability.<\/p>\n

Under the Local Government Water Services Act 2025, councils could continue delivering services in-house through a ring-fenced business unit or establish a water organisation, either alone or with other councils. <\/p>\n

Though financial sustainability was a focus, Thursday\u2019s debate centred more around how control and authority would be shared between the councils.<\/p>\n

\"WesternWestern Bay of Plenty Deputy Mayor Margaret Murray-Benge says the community will be better off in the long term after Thursday’s decision. Photo \/ Ayla Yeoman<\/p>\n

Western Bay of Plenty Deputy Mayor Margaret Murray-Benge said ratepayers needed \u201ca service they can afford\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that in the immediate term we could probably do it on our own, but in the long term, the community will be much better off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murray-Benge said this was the biggest decision a council has had to make since the 1989 local government reforms.<\/p>\n

Tauranga Deputy Mayor Jen Scoular said creating a bigger organisation would help to become more efficient and deliver better services in the long term.<\/p>\n

\"TaurangaTauranga councillor Marten Rozeboom (left), Deputy Mayor Jen Scoular and Tauranga City Council chief executive Marty Grenfell at the meeting. Photo \/ Ayla Yeoman<\/p>\n

The councils would create a joint committee and terms of reference covering each council\u2019s goals. <\/p>\n

Councillors discussed whether they would allow the new organisation to remain open to additional councils joining in the future.<\/p>\n

Thames-Coromandel District Council Mayor Peter Revell and deputy mayor John Grant told the meeting they were keen to join in the future.<\/p>\n

The Tauranga and Western Bay councils agreed to remain open to other councils joining, and to explore this with Thames-Coromandel.<\/p>\n

The new organisation would aim to go live on July 1, 2027.<\/p>\n

The councils agreed to work with tangata whenua and recognise cross-boundary iwi relationships.<\/p>\n

A joint statement issued after the meeting described the agreement as a \u201clandmark\u201d decision to join forces on water services.<\/p>\n

The new organisation would be \u201cgoverned by a competency-based board, with public ownership protections retained\u201d, the statement said. <\/p>\n

Western Bay Mayor James Denyer said the decision marked the culmination of a long and complex water reform journey.<\/p>\n

\"WesternWestern Bay of Plenty Mayor James Denyer. Photo \/ Ayla Yeoman<\/p>\n

\u201cEstablishing a joint water organisation gives us the best opportunity to deliver safe, resilient water services, while keeping ownership in public hands and retaining accountable decision-making.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tauranga Mayor Mah\u00e9 Drysdale said the joint approach reflected a shared commitment to long-term, regionally aligned water services. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are taking a decisive step towards resilient, future-focused services, led by a specialised board and CEO, while creating a platform for stronger regional collaboration over time.\u201d <\/p>\n

The statement said the councils noted \u201cseveral matters\u201d identified in due diligence required \u201cfurther development\u201d through the establishment and transition process.<\/p>\n

Shad Rolleston, co-chairman of the tangata whenua representatives on the project\u2019s joint working group, said it was important tangata whenua and the councils kept working together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe acknowledge the commitment shown by [the] councils to work in collaboration with tangata whenua and support the decision made today.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was later announced former Wellington City Council chief executive Kevin Lavery has been appointed establishment chief executive of the new joint water organisation, starting April 13.<\/p>\n

Four other Bay of Plenty councils<\/a> \u2013 Whakat\u0101ne, \u014cp\u014dtiki, Kawerau and Rotorua Lakes \u2013 continue to work together on options for sharing water services.<\/p>\n

\u2013 LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n

Ayla Yeoman<\/a> is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based in Tauranga. She holds a Bachelor of Arts majoring in communications, politics and international relations from the University of Auckland, and has been a journalist since 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tauranga initially voted to go it alone on water, while the Western Bay passed a tight vote for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":360262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,48763,3469,1561,2199,5205,7558,67447,7557,15559,40142,16555,2070,305,13728,4754,111,43,139,69,4989,1562,1227,61,376,3457,1533],"class_list":["post-360261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-agree","tag-agreed","tag-bay","tag-city","tag-council","tag-councils","tag-discussions","tag-district","tag-elected","tag-establish","tag-form","tag-full","tag-have","tag-joint","tag-members","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-organisation","tag-plenty","tag-tauranga","tag-to","tag-water","tag-western","tag-will"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=360261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/360262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=360261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=360261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=360261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}