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Council votes for more time for water charging structure and mock bills

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PUBLISHED: 22 OCT 2026
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NPDC has revoked the previous Council’s August 2025 decision to introduce fully volumetric water pricing in favour of Wai Hononga Water Services Limited’s request for more time to develop and consult the community on a new water charging structure and indicative pricing.

As a result, it was also decided to hit pause on sending out mock water bills to residential properties until early next year.

At yesterday’s extraordinary Council meeting, elected members decided;

  • NPDC and Wai Hononga should work together confirming the charging structure for water by mid-January 2027 and the indicative pricing for water by mid-March, for Wai Hononga to consult on with the public.
  • NPDC to distribute mock water bills to residential property owners in April/May and again in July/August, showing the previous three-months water use and the indicative cost, which will be agreed with Wai Hononga.

New Plymouth District Mayor Max Brough is pleased to see the thinking the water entity board and management are bringing to council.

“Wai Hononga are looking at a broad range of billing options that reflect the true cost of water service delivery, that is fair for users and protects future capability and assets.”

Mock water billing for residential properties was due to start later this month (October). The decision to delay the rollout of these mock bills will help ensure the indicative structure and costs shown are as close as possible to the actual charges to make the mock water bills as meaningful as possible.

Wai Hononga will confirm those charges by 1 July 2027 when it assumes responsibility for delivering water and wastewater services, including water charging.

The mock billing phase will help homeowners understand their actual water use and what their charges could be once actual billing starts from July next year, with the first bill likely to be delivered in October for the previous three-month period (July- September).

A copy of the agenda and a video of the meeting is available here  

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Page last updated: 11:08am Thu 22 October 2026

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