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A wastewater leak in central Wellington. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
- A Deloitte probe into Wellington Water has revealed poor value from the agency's contractors, loose financial controls, and one instance of the theft of "tens of thousands" of dollars.
- A Hutt Valley home-owner says he was left gobsmacked when he was charged $10,000 to have two tobies installed on his property.
- Upper Hutt mayor Wayne Guppy says rate-payers have endured rate hikes based on potentially "inflated" cost estimates by the agency.
- Board chairman Nick Leggett admits the relationships between the Wellington Water and its contractors has become too friendly.
The cost of unplanned water pipe repairs in the Wellington region is three times higher than in other regions, according to a scathing report released by Wellington Water on Monday.
A probe uncovered poor value for money from contractors, loose financial controls, and even one case of alleged theft.
'$10,000? ... I'm in the wrong trade'
A Hutt Valley home owner - who did not want to be named - said he became dubious of Wellington Water's tendering process when gathering quotes to have two tobies - shut off valves - installed on his property.
He said each quote from the agency's approved contractors came within $10 to $15 of each other.
"I went eh? I'm a businessman and that just doesn't happen.
"They did use a digger. There were three guys, there was no road closure. They were only there for three hours and it cost me $10,000. I thought 'Geez, I'm in the wrong trade'.
"I'm disgusted. It's like a form of corruption as far as I'm concerned."
Wellington Water had commissioned Deloitte to investigate concerns raised by whistleblowers about its procurement processes and financial systems.
Relationships between the agency and contractors too friendly
Board chairman Nick Leggett admitted the relationships between Wellington Water and its contractors had become too friendly.
"I don't think rate-payers have had the best value for money that they should of got. That there weren't the tensions in the relationships that Wellington Water had with external providers, with people that did the work on the ground," Leggett said.
Leggett said the report also identified one "incident of alleged theft" that he said amounted to tens of thousands dollars.
However, he said the person involved no longer worked for the agency, and the matter was now in the hands of the police.
Last year, an independant report found Wellington Water staff took four months to tell the region's councils about an error in budgeting advice, which left the councils with a a bill of $51 million over three years.
That report was critical about the organisation, calling it immature, with inadequate systems and processes, and a dysfunctional culture.
'They just never wanted to be questioned'
Upper Hutt mayor Wayne Guppy said Wellington Water had long been resistant to criticism from his council.
"The writing was on the wall four or five years ago. They were bullies then. You can imagine the culture they had at work because they just never wanted to be questioned and you smell a rat then," Guppy said.
He said the review into the water supply agency raised questions as to whether rates rises in the region would have been necessary if cost estimates supplied by Wellington Water had been more competitive.
"Most of our long term plan was about infrastructure, water and waste water and if we've got inflated figures and inflated costs then one has to question - in reality - did those rate rises have to be anywhere near what they were?
"We were working on figures and costs given to us by Wellington Water and the reports we've now got show us that the rate payers in the region have been ripped off.
"Your talking about tens of millions of dollars and we could've used that money. That money could well have not been allocated or more importantly been used been used for more of that work. It's an absolute disgrace."
Guppy said his council was able to save "upwards of a million dollars" in 2023 by delivering a significant pipe upgrade in the city without Wellington Water.
Agency's competitive tendering systems 'completely broken'
Porirua mayor Anita Baker said the agency's competitive tendering systems were "completely broken".
"The contracters and consulters have been able to - shall I say - increase pricing legally without another process so they probably haven't done anything wrong but the internal process was broken. I'm pleased they've found out but I'm very angry with what's happened," Baker said.
'We still have questions'
Wellington mayor Tory Whanau said the report had been "damning".
She wanted to understand how far the issues go back to accurately gauge the impact on ratepayers and the council in the long-term.
"I think ratepayers in general ... they would have had it. Enough is enough. This is yet another issue with Wellington Water but until we get the full report - all we have is a summary - we still have questions," Whanau said.
She said the report highlighted the need for a highly-transparent, well-managed independant entity to combat the capital's water woes but that change would hit rate-payers in the pocket yet again.
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