Mayors, district councillors and chief executives from Whakatāne, Ōpōtiki, Kawerau and Rotorua Lakes district councils met this week to investigate shared water services.

The four councils signed a heads of agreement in December to work together to investigate the next best steps forward for community water services in the Eastern Bay and Rotorua as required under the Government’s Local Water Done Well legislation.

Kawerau hosted the most recent meeting of the Joint Waters Working Group, which also includes technical experts from the four councils, on Tuesday.

At the meeting they set the framework for a formal report being prepared for later this year. The report will outline the long-term financial and non-financial savings and costs, levels of service, resilience and sustainability and capability that would be associated with any potential move to a shared water entity.

Kawerau Mayor Faylene Tunui said it was a valuable opportunity to continue the discussions on water services between the neighbouring councils.

“We are now bringing together financial, and drinking and wastewater asset information for all four councils as part of the investigations into what a shared water services entity could look like and whether it would deliver savings for our respective communities,” Mrs Tunui said.

“What was reiterated by the four councils is that this is an investigation, not a decision. We are committed to keeping everyone up-to-date and will continue to have more in-depth conversations with our communities and iwi partners over the coming months.”