IPART to judge 8% water rate rise proposal

A proposal for an 8% water rates rise from July 1, 2026, will go to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal and begin a process that will end in May next year.

The increases for the following four years would be confined to CPI increases only.

At the Central Coast Council meeting on September 23, councillors considered a report from staff which said community feedback had been considered, and the price increase had been modelled after factoring in essential costs only.

These include: capital Investment of $593M across the time frame; a water security plan to drought proof the Coast and rising operational costs such as increases in material, labour and compliances issues.

The report said council has “conducted meaningful customer engagement”.

The submission will be lodged with IPART by September 30 in accordance with the regulatory timeline and will include 11 technical papers to support the proposal.

Five councillors voted against the increase.

They were Labor councillors Sharon Walsh, Margot Castles, Helen Crowley and Kyle MacGregor and independent Corinne Lamont.

Now a process begins with IPART’s review of  Council’s water prices running from now until May 2026 and will include public consultation this coming November and reviews and analysis of Council’s historic and proposed expenditure.

Then IPART will release a draft expenditure review and pricing determinations for public comment next March before making a final determination next May.

The pricing submission needs the technical papers to meet IPART’s proposal guidelines.

Councillors participated in four workshops specifically focused on the IPART pricing submission, the report said.

The director for water and sewer said a couple of works projects were driving the increase including sewer upgrades at Charmhaven, Gwandalan, Bateau Bay and Toukley.

If IPART does not agree with the rate rise, some projects would be wound back or turned off, he said.

The public will be able to have their say in November.

The proposed increases come after the last IPART determination delivered hefty water rates increases of about 50 per cent over the last four years.

Merilyn Vale