Water Services Acts Repeal Bill
This bill cancels three laws passed in 2022 and 2023 that were setting up a new national system for managing drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater. Those laws would have moved water services away from local councils into larger regional organisations. This bill stops that from happening and puts local councils back in charge of water services. It also closes down the one organisation that had already started being set up under the old laws, and gives councils more time and flexibility to update their long-term financial plans.
What this affects
Tap a topic to see how this bill touches it — with the parts of the text it’s based on.
Local councils get more time and flexibility to update their long-term financial plans, including plans that cover things like water infrastructure needed for new housing.
An authority may adopt its 2024–2034 long-term plan no later than 30 September 2024.
An authority may defer adopting its 2024–2034 long-term plan by 1 year if the authority resolves to do so, no later than 30 April 2024.
Progress through Parliament
Have your say
Submissions open once a bill reaches the select committee stage. In the meantime, you can write to your local MP about it.
Write to your MPBill text sourced from legislation.govt.nz (Parliamentary Counsel Office). Arapono’s summary and breakdown are drafted with AI grounded in that official text and reviewed by an Arapono editor for accuracy and neutrality before publishing. Arapono is non-partisan and takes no position on this bill.