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Local Government (Water Services) Act 2025

Structural arrangements for providing water services - Water services delivery plans

83: Secretary may require territorial authority to submit water services delivery plan

You could also call this:

"The government can ask local councils to create a plan for managing water services in their area."

Illustration for Local Government (Water Services) Act 2025

The Secretary can ask you, as a territorial authority, to make a water services delivery plan and send it to them for approval at any time. You might get this request even if you are not usually required to make such a plan under this Act or any other law. The Secretary can make this request if they think you have started talking to a water organisation about taking back some control over water supply or wastewater services in your area.

The Secretary needs to consider a few things before making this request, such as whether you have thought about how the community feels about the proposed changes. They also need to think about whether you have taken steps to work with a water organisation to make changes to who is in charge of water services in your area. This helps the Secretary decide if they should ask you to make a water services delivery plan.

If the Secretary does ask you to make a plan, you will need to prepare it and send it to them for approval.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1459098.

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Government and voting > Local councilsEnvironment and resources > Food and water safety
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82: Secretary may exempt relevant territorial authority from submitting water services delivery plan, or

"The Secretary can let some councils off from making a water plan if they meet certain conditions."

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84: Application of this subpart, or

"This part of the law does not apply to Watercare Services Limited or companies they own."

Part 2Structural arrangements for providing water services
Water services delivery plans

83Secretary may require territorial authority to submit water services delivery plan

  1. The Secretary may, at any time, require a territorial authority to prepare a water services delivery plan and submit it to the Secretary for approval.

  2. Subsection (1) applies even if—

  3. the territorial authority is not a relevant territorial authority; or
    1. the territorial authority is not otherwise required to provide a water services delivery plan under this Act or any other enactment.

      1. However, the Secretary may only require a territorial authority to prepare and submit a water services delivery plan if the Secretary—

      2. considers that the territorial authority has taken steps to enter into a new transfer agreement with a water organisation that returns some or all responsibility for providing water supply services or wastewater services in its district to the territorial authority; and
        1. has considered the extent to which the territorial authority has consulted on the proposed new transfer agreement.