Dean JacquiHon JACQUI DEAN (National—Waitaki): Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. I'm very pleased to make a contribution to this Gore [Pronounced with a Southland burr] District Council (Otama—Hon Member: Oh that was good.Hon JACQUI DEAN: —you see the South Island thing comes in here—Rural Water Supply) Bill. A rural water scheme is a very precious thing to the local community that are subscribers to it. I know the three southern MPs who have spoken already have acknowledged that fact and I want to add my voice to that in recognition that for a small rural community having secure stock water and drinking-water is incredibly important and you can only reflect back into the 1970s when the local farming community built the water scheme themselves and we can only wonder at the processes that they went through. But obviously they needed to get permission to sink the bore and then lay the common pipes and then the pipes going on to their properties and allocate the water into points. I don't know if it was points allocation. The member in charge of the bill might know that. Are they points of water subscribers or do they—Mark Patterson: Units—units of water.Hon JACQUI DEAN: Oh units of water—same thing I guess. So it is very much a community scheme.I was just reflecting on the Cold Creek scheme or the Cold Creek bill which is the precedent for this piece of legislation. I sat on the Environment Committee when that was going through the House and the local farmers made trips to Wellington from Taranaki to plead their case because they were so determined that they would take over ownership of their drinking-water scheme and stock-water scheme. They were very determined and very positive that they as the owners of the scheme were able then to truly regard it as their drinking-water scheme and stock-water scheme. So I'm very pleased to be one of those many voices that will be supporting this Otama rural water supply bill.The process is interesting in how we have come to have a local bill. Of course the Local Government Act prohibits the divesting of drinking-water schemes to bodies other than other Government bodies—unless of course it's a small drinking-water scheme which this is not because the threshold for that is 200 subscribers and this Ōtama rural water supply has 223 subscribers. So it doesn't fit here nor there hence the need for a local bill which is why we're standing here today. So I'm very pleased to be one of those voices to support the local community and to support their intention to take finally and fully ownership from the district council understanding completely that they will continue to comply with drinking-water standards. They will continue to comply with water-quality standards and other legislation that comes upon them from time to time and I can only wonder how they are contemplating the future when the Three Waters work of the current Government comes to being. I do hope that does not impose too much extra cost on this small drinking-water supply. In fact I'd like to be reassured of that right now as I'm sure the local ratepayers of that water supply would like to be reassured. They need certainty as they move in this journey towards owning their own drinking-water supply.I was just talking to my excellent colleague Harete a moment ago who was saying that the Cold Creek water supply has just had their official opening and they're very proud. One of the great benefits that has accrued to the community of Cold Creek is that they feel a huge sense of pride in themselves—and so they should—and a huge sense of community and a sense of ownership. That is very important with such an important resource economically environmentally to their homes their farms their businesses as their very own water supply which they put in the ground themselves they laid the pipes they planned it they have the governance of it—working now on the passage of this bill hand in hand with the Gore District Council. So I am very pleased to speak to this and very pleased to commend this bill to the House.