STDC Gets Water Services Delivery Plan Accepted
South Taranaki District Council is pleased to announce that its Water Services Delivery Plan (WSDP) for an in-house business unit to deliver South Taranaki’s water services into the future, has been accepted by the Department of Internal Affairs.
The WSDP, which was accepted on Wednesday last week (17 Sept), means that STDC is the first Taranaki Council to have its plan accepted and one of only a handful across the country.
South Taranaki Mayor Phil Nixon says that while he was very confident that the plan would be accepted, it’s always nice to have it officially confirmed.
“A huge amount of time, effort and analysis went into developing our WSDP, so I was very confident that it was a solid and financially sustainable plan. But you never know until the final approval has been given, so it was a big relief to get the green light.”
South Taranaki’s WSDP was assessed by an expert panel consisting of senior representatives from National Infrastructure Funding and Financing Limited, the Local Government Funding Agency, the Commerce Commission, the Water Services Authority and the Department of Internal Affairs.
The acceptance process involved financial and technical assessments to ensure it met the financial sustainability requirements. In addition, a legislative assessment ensured all requirements of the Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Act 2024 were met.
South Taranaki District Council chief executive Fiona Aitken was very proud of the work her team had done in preparing the plan and was under no illusion of the work ahead.
“The team have done an excellent job getting our plan accepted which is a real sign of confidence in the Council, but the hard work doesn’t stop as we continue to deliver quality water services to our community.”
Related article: STDC votes to keep water services In-house
