Council is seeking feedback on how the proceeds from the former Waitoa community hall could be used, alongside the proposal to connect Waitoa village to a town water supply.

This is based on work undertaken by the Waitoa Water Community Panel — a group of local residents who spent several weeks reviewing options, hearing from experts, and weighing up costs, risks and impacts before providing recommendations to Council.

The Panel ultimately recommended connecting Waitoa to the Council water supply, with a focus on keeping costs as fair and manageable as possible for local households. One way they identified to support this was using a portion of the hall sale proceeds to help offset connection costs.

Waitoa previously had a community hall, which was funded by local residents through their rates.

The hall was ageing and under‑utilised, and following feedback from the hall committee, Council decided to sell the hall in 2019. Around $386,000 has been generated from the sale and interest over time.

The panel acknowledged that a wider pool of ratepayers contributed to the hall (i.e. there are Waitoa ratepayers who are not affected by the changes to water).

So their suggestion was to pro-rata the funds – this would mean that the households connecting to water supply would get a ‘fair share’ of the hall funds, based on what they had contributed over the years.

The balance - for Waitoa ratepayers not impacted by changes to water services - would remain in Council’s reserve funds, and may be used to advance other projects/initiatives across the district.

In giving feedback, it’s helpful to understand the scale of costs Waitoa households may face.

Connection costs are currently estimated to be around $10,000 per property (based on high‑level estimates and including a connection at the property boundary — work within private property would be at the owner’s cost).

If the hall proceeds are pro‑rated, each affected household would receive a contribution of approximately $1,840 to help offset these costs.

Option 1 - Panel’s preferred option

Pro‑rata the hall proceeds to support those connecting to the water supply.

Approx. $1,840 contribution per affected property.

Main benefit: reduces costs for affected households, with any remaining funds held by Council.

Option 2

Contribute the entire hall proceeds towards the water supply.

Approx. $2,960 contribution per affected property.

Main benefit: maximises cost reduction for households connecting to the supply.

Option 3

Do not use the hall proceeds for the water supply.

Main benefit: all funds are retained by Council and may be used for other purposes.

• Waitoa hall information booklet

We are seeking one response from each property that paid the Waitoa Hall targeted rate. If there are multiple people associated with a property, please work together to provide a single response.

Consultation closes 21 June 2026.

Find out more about the Waitoa Water:

• change proposal
• Community Panel

You can contact the Council if you have any enquiries or want to know more about the survey or the consultation process.

Contact the Matamata-Piako District Council