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Local Government (Water Services) Act 2025

Planning, reporting, and financial management - Planning - Statement of expectations

229: Statement of expectations: process and limits

You could also call this:

"Rules for Water Organisations: How Owners Set Expectations"

Illustration for Local Government (Water Services) Act 2025

When you are part of a water organisation, the people who own it can only give you one set of expectations at a time. If the owners give you expectations that do not match what a regulator has said, the regulator's rules are more important. The regulator is like a referee who makes sure everyone follows the rules.

The owners of a water organisation must tell you how they will prepare their expectations. They have to follow a process that includes giving you a draft of their expectations and listening to your comments. You get a chance to review the draft and provide feedback.

The regulator can be different groups, such as the Water Services Authority or the Commerce Commission. It can also be a regional council or unitary authority, which is defined in the Local Government Act 2002, in the area where the water organisation provides services. The owners must consider your comments before finalising their expectations.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1004661.

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228: Additional requirements of statement of expectations, or

"What a water organisation's statement of expectations must include and follow"

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"Plan for managing water services"

Part 4Planning, reporting, and financial management
Planning: Statement of expectations

229Statement of expectations: process and limits

  1. The shareholders of a water organisation may provide only 1 statement of expectations to a water organisation at any time.

  2. If a water organisation receives a statement of expectations that is inconsistent with a direction or requirement imposed by a regulator, the regulator’s direction or requirement prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.

  3. The shareholders of a water organisation must publish, on an internet site maintained by or on behalf of 1 or more of the shareholders, the process that the shareholders must follow to prepare a statement of expectations.

  4. The process to prepare a statement of expectations must include the following:

  5. the shareholders must provide a draft of the statement of expectations to the water organisation:
    1. the shareholders must give the water organisation a reasonable opportunity to review the draft statement and provide comments:
      1. the shareholders must consider any comments provided by the water organisation before finalising the statement of expectations.

        1. In subsection (2), regulator means 1 or more of the following:

        2. the Water Services Authority:
          1. the Commerce Commission:
            1. a regional council or unitary authority (as that term is defined in the LGA 2002) in whose region the water organisation provides water services.