A burst water pipe in Wellington. Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER
Wellington Water has requested an extra $37.5 million dollars from the city council over the next three years to help fix and replace leaking pipes and to better manage the entity.
In a meeting on Tuesday afternoon Wellington Water chief executive Pat Dougherty was frank about why the funding was needed and urged the council to hurry up with a decision.
He broke down the costs saying the funding would go towards changing its structure and processes, replacing 30 permanent contractors and consultants with in-house staff and improving its IT systems.
Dougherty explained to councillors the current process to make decisions was too lengthy and the entity struggled to understand its structure.
He also said it had become "too reliant" on its contractors and consultants and has "lost sight" about its customers getting value for money.
"We've had too much focus on growing delivery capacity and a reliance on trust and relationships with our contractors and consultants.
"I have a different philosophy. I believe that there should be a commercial tension, you won't see a press release from me about talking about a contractor family and a consultant family.
"We think that we'll get much better continuity of knowledge and experience and we'll get better value for money."
Pat Dougherty. Photo: Supplied / Wellington Water
He apologised to the council and acknowledged many of the councils across the region had been telling Wellington Water it relied too heavily on contractors.
"You were right and I'm sorry it's taken so long for the message to be heard.
"It's one of the things that we, the board members and myself, agreed had to be our priority was restoring our trust with the councils and starting to deliver value for money," Dougherty said.
He said details about certain aspects of the water network weren't looked after by Wellington Water but were instead looked after by their contractors Fulton Hogan and Veolia who have all the asset management information.
Included in its budget, Wellington Water wants an extra $5 million for its operating budget on top of the $61m it was given last year.
That money will go towards keeping leaks under control and prevent wastewater entering the harbour.
It also wants an extra $25m in its capital budget to manage unacceptable risks.
It has also asked for a $430,000 dollar increase to its Management Advisory Services to allow the organisation to hire key staff to manage contracts and put in place better controls.
A cost audit has been commissioned which will compare Wellington Water's costs with those of other water utilities in other regions.
The findings will be presented to all the shareholding councils in March.
Dougherty ended the meeting by urging the Wellington City Council to hurry up with reform.
"We didn't come along to ask for funding to re-lay 10 kilometres of ageing water pipes. We've asked for money to keep critical assets going for one more year and with a message to please hurry in your organisation."
Wellington Water replaced about 24km of pipes in the 2023/2024 financial year and aims to replace another 9km this year.
A decision will be made by the council next week.
