Tauranga City Council is set to meet with Hamilton City Council, whose Mayor is calling for the government to reconsider Three Waters Reform proposals, with the discussion of smaller regional water organisations potentially on the cards.

Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate says she does not believe the current model proposal is in the best interests of the Waikato city.

Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta confirmed in November last year that the Government was pushing through with Three Waters Reform – despite numerous objections from councils across New Zealand.

Mayor Southgate believes there is scope for smaller organisations, with a Waikato-Bay of Plenty entity possible.

At present, both Hamilton and Tauranga would fall into Entity B of the four region system, along with the Western Bay of Plenty and 19 other councils.

Hamilton City Council approved a report to be submitted to the Government-appointed Three Waters Working Group - established to help settle the considerable issues involved with the implementation of Three Waters.

The submission, approved at a Hamilton City Council meeting this week, will request changes, and other improvements related to governance and accountability of the new structure. Work on the specifics of this submission document is still ongoing.

'It's about working with those councils with common interests while still getting benefits of scale,” says Southgate.

'The model as it is proposed doesn't cut it for me and doesn't cut it for other Councillors either. But we will still be part of the process and we will still keep pushing for change in the best interests of our city.”

Southgate has praised the Government for taking on some early feedback regarding the reforms. However, she feels alternative options need to be worked on now.

'We need to see a clear pathway for how water reform is going to support the massive need for infrastructure spending in high-growth councils like ours,” she says.

'The reality is we have a huge wave of water infrastructure and other infrastructure costs coming to simply keep up with growth. Whatever structure is put in place has to reflect that reality, otherwise we are not going to get the benefits for our city that we need.”

She says a meeting with Tauranga Commission Chair Anne Tolley is on the cards to discuss the proposal. Tolley has confirmed to SunLive that arrangements are being progressed for a meeting but there is no timeframe as to when this might take place.

She also makes it clear the matter has yet to be considered by Council and therefore no decisions have been made.

Tolley has previously spoken about the Tauranga community's rejection of the reforms and a need for clearer information about the current proposal.

Hamilton's Mayor also intends to write to all other Waikato and Bay of Plenty Mayors to discuss the merits of such an entity.

The three Waters Working Group will report back their findings, including any submission from Hamilton City Council, to Government in March.