Far North District Council headquarters, Memorial Ave, Kaikohe. Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf
Far North District councillors have ordered an immediate, independent review of a controversial Kaitāia water project dogged by delays and cost overruns.
The Sweetwater project was launched in 2010 by then Far North Mayor Wayne Brown, with the aim of tapping into an aquifer north of Kaitāia and reducing the town's reliance on water from the drought-prone Awanui River.
Water from the Aupōuri aquifer finally made its way into Kaitāia's town supply in January this year - 15 years later - at a cost thought to be around $17 million.
Uncertainty over the cost of the project has long been a bugbear for Awanui-based councillor Mate Radich, who at Thursday's meeting moved that the council order a judicial review.
Radich told fellow councillors the project was supposed to take five years, but instead took 15. He had become especially frustrated, unable to get consistent information about the project's total cost.
Figures he had been given by council staff since 2021 ranged from a low of $13.5 million to a high of $18.9m, with three different figures - varying by almost $4m - provided just this year. The figure earlier provided to RNZ under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act was $17.2m to 30 June 2023.
"Ratepayers have a right to know how much it cost," Radich said. "I know a judicial review is expensive, but given the mess, what other option do I have? It's so important to bring out the truth."
However, Mayor Moko Tepania said judicial reviews cost "a heck of a lot of money". He proposed ordering an immediate independent review instead, which could provide the same answers but at lower cost to ratepayers.
Deputy Mayor Kelly Stratford, who seconded Radich's original motion, wanted assurances any review would be "absolutely independent". She was unconvinced it would have sufficient integrity if it was carried out internally.
"We're not looking to lay blame, but we need to understand what happened so we don't make the same mistakes going forward."
Councillor Ann Court said she was concerned about the expense of a review, and the cumulative cost of the council's ad hoc decisions over the past two and half-years.
"If this is just a 'gotcha' exercise, I don't think it would be a useful spend of ratepayer money."
However, if the review led to useful lessons, it could have merit, Court said.
Chief executive Guy Holroyd did not want to guess the cost of a review, but said it would be "tens and tens of thousands of dollars". His preference was to gather the information internally to keep costs down, then have it audited by external experts.
The amended motion, for an independent review to be completed by July, was passed by a clear majority of councillors.
Problems from the start
The Sweetwater project was dogged by problems almost from the outset, including difficulties accessing the bores because they were on private land. The pipeline also had to cross private land to reach Kaitāia.
In 2013, newly elected Mayor John Carter halted the project and called in the Serious Fraud Office. Its investigation found some council members and employees failed to follow internal processes, but there was not enough evidence to lay charges.
In 2019 however, after Kaitāia had been hammered by a series of severe droughts, the Sweetwater project was revived.
In 2020 a cash injection from the Provincial Growth Fund paid for temporary pipes carrying bore water to the treatment plant at Okahu Road.
However, it turned out the silica-rich aquifer water was unsuitable for a plant designed to treat river water.
After much technical tweaking and the installation of new equipment, water from the Sweetwater bore finally started flowing through Kaitāia's taps in January this year.
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