Ashburton District Councillors have re-affirmed their opposition to the current three waters reforms, and will stick with Communities 4 Local Democracy and 29 other member councils who oppose it as a group.

Government announced changes to the reforms last week, including the name of the reforms which are now known as Affordable Water. There will also be 10 water entities controlling drinking water, wastewater and stormwater, in place of the originally proposed four and the timeline for implementing the changes has been pushed out two years to 1 July 2026.

Ashburton councillors discussed the changes and reviewed their stance on the reforms when they met on Wednesday.

Mayor Neil Brown said there was a strong consensus that council remained in opposition to the reforms as they were currently being rolled out, and that council continue to remain a member of Communities 4 Local Democracy (C4LD).

“We do not support the reforms in the form they are in at the moment, and we are continuing our membership of C4LD.”

He said the reforms would likely be determined at the polling booth later this year, in October’s General Election, with some opposition parties saying they would repeal the reform legislation if elected to Parliament.

“We all support having clean drinking water for everyone, but we remain concerned about the loss of our three waters assets and infrastructure worth about $250 million in today’s terms, and about giving up local control of how those assets will be maintained and improved.”