Re: Three Waters – I refer back to my property in Te Puna West. It had, when I purchased it, a water supply from Western Bay of Plenty District Council but wastewater was collected in a septic tank, which needed to be pumped out every couple of years by a contractor – at my cost – additional to the rates.

Then a notice came from council that they'd be installing a sewage system to just inside my roadway boundary; I was then required to connect up the waste pipe to the septic tank.

All done in six months – and the council contractor did good job of whole street/area so I paid rates plus some of the costs to connect it up but it got done by all of the community. However, with the way Central Government work they would have still been talking about it.

There have been times when the councils have worked together to good effect. WBOPDC worked on collection of wastewater at Omokoroa and then piped and pumped it over the Wairoa Bridge to connect into the city system in Bethlehem – all good.

City Council is currently replacing a 100-year-old drain running under Cameron Rd, so who needs to get Central Government involved?

Peter Turner, Bayview.