In May, Councillors met to consider the community views received during the March-April 2025 consultation period (written and oral submissions). Councillors agreed to proceed with the preferred option of establishing a multi-council water organisation together with Upper Hutt, Hutt City, Porirua and Greater Wellington Regional Councils.

Council also asked officers to explore and provide advice on the topics of:

• Stormwater – how WCC will ensure that the new water organisation provides sufficient investment in WCC stormwater systems, and how WCC and the new organisation expect to work collaboratively for the continued improvement of our stormwater systems.
• Consumer advocacy – how WCC residents and ratepayers will be represented and supported with the planned changes to water services delivery. Included in this work is exploring financial support to low-income families and renters and with the introduction of water meters in future years, monitoring the impacts and identifying mitigations.

An update will be provided on these topics in September after the delivery of the Water Services Delivery Plan (a document that enables councils to demonstrate their commitment to deliver water services that meet regulatory requirements).

Each of the five partner councils listed above have confirmed their council’s decision to join the regional water entity. Information on each council’s decision can be found on the respective council’s website.

Work can now get underway to progress establishment and transition to the new water organisation. The new organisation has an interim name of Metro Water. The new official name will be confirmed as part of establishing the organisation.

Establishing the organisation will initially focus on recruiting several interim directors. The directors are tasked with recruiting the Metro Water interim Chief Executive. The Chief Executive will be responsible for the establishment and transition activities ready for Metro Water to commence operations on 1 July 2026.

In addition to the above activity, officers continue to develop the mandated Water Services Delivery Plan (WSDP) ready to submit to the government by 3 September 2025.

Council is expected to consider and adopt the WSDP at a committee meeting on 20 August 2025.