Wellington Water’s chairman has resigned in the wake of the More Point crisis.

Nick Leggett said: Wellington treatment plant failure It was very serious, with environmental, public health, and community impacts.

a Outage at treatment facility on Wellington’s south coast Earlier this month, it began releasing 70 million liters of untreated sewage per day into Cook Strait.

labeled environmental disaster Mayor Wellington Water warned it may take several months Before the plants are up and running again and the oceans are swimmable again.

Mr Leggett said leadership comes with responsibility and stepping down would allow Wellington Water to focus on solving problems and restoring public trust.

An independent government inquiry will look into the causes of the failure. Leggett said he would cooperate fully with the process.

His last day will be Monday. Vice Chair Bill Bayfield will serve as interim Chair. Leggett had held the position since 2023.

Wellington Mayor Andrew Little said following Mr Leggett’s resignation that he had spoken with the next interim chair to ensure the recovery continues.

“I recognize Nick Leggett’s work as Chairman of Wellington Water.”

He said Wellington Water had the technical skills to lead the recovery and find what was needed to rebuild the plant.

Wellington City Council is Wellington Water’s largest shareholder and owner of the More Point treatment plant.

“Council has an important role to play in supporting other stakeholders, such as Wellington Water and local public health authorities, to maintain a clear flow of information to the community. This is critical to ensuring Wellingtonians can keep themselves safe and know what the next steps in recovery are,” Mr Little said.

“I have spoken to the incoming interim leader and have reinforced my hope that Wellington City Council will work with him to ensure this happens.”

Local Government Minister Simon Watts said he had not been informed of Mr Leggett’s resignation.

He said Wellingtonians deserve answers for Morepoint’s failures and he had no concerns that Mr Leggett would fully co-operate with the government’s independent review.

Mr Watts confirmed he had not asked Mr Leggett to resign.

“Wellingtonians deserve to trust the people responsible for delivering water services, and I understand that’s why he chose to resign.”

Sign up for the daily newsletter “Ngā Pitopito Korero” Handpicked by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.