Wayne Brown confident 25.8% water hikes can be reduced

Wayne Brown confident 25.8% water hikes can be reduced
Watercare is forecasting significant increases in capital expenditure. (Image: Watercare)
Oliver Lewis
Auckland mayor Wayne Brown doesn’t support a proposal to increase water user charges by 25.8% and believes a solution to avoid the hikes will be in place by June.If negotiations with the government to achieve balance-sheet separation for Watercare aren't successful, Brown suggests the scale of its capital works programme could be pared back to avoid the worst of the increases. “Probably they can justify doing all these works, but if we haven’t got the money for it I’ll just stop them,” he told BusinessDesk...

More Infrastructure

EPA’s Allan Freeth sets record straight
Primary Sector

EPA’s Allan Freeth sets record straight

Resignation news a simple case of "bad timing", says environment watchdog CEO.

Pattrick Smellie 07 Nov 2025
War on Nature v Going for Growth
Opinion

Pattrick Smellie: War on Nature v Going for Growth

Some big environmental eggs were broken this week to 'go for growth'.

Pattrick Smellie 07 Nov 2025
‘Remarkable growth’: Fulton Hogan posts higher profit
Economy

‘Remarkable growth’: Fulton Hogan posts higher profit

Fulton Hogan paid a total dividend of $180.4m for 2025.

Duncan Bridgeman 05 Nov 2025
EPA head quits with fast-track changes
Policy

EPA head quits with fast-track changes

The latest fast-track reforms go far beyond supermarket resource consenting.