Submission to Local Government Acts Taskforce

Prior to the Christmas break, the Water Directorate made a submission to the Local Government Acts Taskforce, Review of the Local Government Act 1993. A full copy of our submission is available here.

The Water Directorate supports the need for reform of the regulation of local government and their utilities and in mid December we held a workshop seeking input from our members. We strongly believe the current regulatory model is inconsistent in application, creates confusion regarding roles and responsibilities, and limits the ability of local water utilities to deliver the best outcomes for the community.

A comprehensive submission was drafted following the one day workshop and all the comments by attendees were incorporated. Attachments A, B and C clearly outline the recommendations and comments made by attendees, all of whom are local government water industry practitioners.

In essence, our submission recommended the following:

• A reduction in red tape and regulatory duplication through the removal of NSW Office of Water’s role in S60-S63 of the Local Government Act
• The reform of the Local Government Act to address regulatory gaps and inconsistencies between LWUs and water utilities regulated through other instruments
• Further discussion on the opportunities to best deliver water and sewerage services in regional NSW
• A meeting with the Local Government Acts Taskforce to discuss our reform suggestions in more detail.

We look forward to significant progress being made by the Local Government Acts Taskforce in 2013 and a resolution of the many outstanding issues previously identified.

A full copy of our submission is available here.