Goldsmith Paul: South Taranaki District Council (Cold Creek Rural Water Supply) Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Goldsmith Paul: South Taranaki District Council (Cold Creek Rural Water Supply) Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 13 March 2013. Volume:688;Page:8503. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) 
: 
 It is my privilege to speak in favour of this South Taranaki District Council (Cold Creek Rural Water Supply) Bill— 
Hon Member 
: Have you read it? 
PAUL GOLDSMITH 
: Yes I am thank you. This will specify the process that the South Taranaki District Council must follow to enable the transfer of the Cold Creek rural water supply scheme to Cold Creek Community Water Supply Ltd and provide for certain related matters if the scheme is transferred to the company. I think and this Government believes that this is a practical and a fair solution. It may not be a significant economic asset but to the farmers who use it it is very significant. Those farmers are the shareholders and they are the only ones who are affected by and who benefit from this scheme. 
This is about pipes and concrete; it is not about water. We do not need to get distracted with long and argumentative discussions and deviations on that matter; we need to focus just on the simple aspects of this scheme which is about the pipes and the concrete in order to get water on to farms. It is something that has been set up by the community over a long time with the involvement of a number of farmers. 
This bill enables community ownership of an asset built by the local community. Just briefly I want to traverse some aspects of the history of this scheme for the interest of the House. It was between 1984 and 1987 that a group of farmers and residents living near Opunake built a water-race scheme on the Cold Creek catchments to supply farms and homes with water. It was overseen by the Cold Creek rural water supply committee of the Egmont County Council which was comprised of both council members and local farmers. 
The thing that I would like to say here is that this scheme was financed by a Government subsidy and dollar for dollar contributions for those using the scheme. At the time the Government insisted that the legal title of the scheme be vested in the local entity so it was vested in the Egmont Plains Community Board. However the ratepayers of South Taranaki never paid towards the purchase maintenance or otherwise of this scheme. It is totally operated by the residents of the scheme therefore they want ownership vested in them under the Cold Creek Community Water Supply company. 
This company has indeed managed the scheme including finances operations and maintenance of the water reticulation network since 2001. Way back then the South Taranaki District Council agreed to transfer the ownership. However the Local Government Act 2002 means that a water supply cannot be privatised therefore a local bill was the best way to make that transfer possible. I am pleased to be part of a Government that is tidying up this matter which has been a source of continual frustration on the part of these people. On that basis I commend this bill to the House. Thank you.