No 11th hour decision says Mayor

Mayor Jenny Rowan has rejected any suggestion Council will be making an “11th hour decision” on a future water supply for Waikanae, Paraparaumu and Raumati.

“People such as TAG, special interest groups and members of the public have put in hundreds of hours on this issue for the benefit of our community.

“Claims that we are rushing at the last minute to make a decision totally devalues all the good work these people have done.

“My Council has been working to a well publicised timetable on securing a long term solution. We have been consulting with stakeholder groups, iwi, Community Boards, special interest groups and members of the public all the way along this process.

“The milestone dates have been well publicised.

“It is well known that we have been working towards making a decision on the short list on August 19. This definitely will not be an ‘11th hour decision’.

“The analysis of the top options before Council involves ‘present value calculations’ which are far more appropriate evaluation tools than ‘cost-benefit ratios’.

“A claim Council has ‘admitted’ to a 20% water loss through leakage is nothing new. This is a standard percentage estimate used by most Councils. Clearly it is not something we like, however, and we have an active programme underway to trace leaks and fix them.

“We also have a significant programme underway on water conservation. Council staff, for instance, recently won a national water award for the quality of one of its educational programmes in this area.”