Westland's Mayor says the district benefits from giving its water away in bulk exports.
Bruce Smith is defending the District Council's decision to allow a private company to take billions of litres of water.
Okuru Enterprises' consent is rolling over and Mr Smith said giving it water from Neil's Beach is a win-win - benefiting the company and the locals it employs.
He said even though the water is free the district still benefits.
"There is a cost for them to use our road reserves and our infrastructural assets which will provide quite a nice return."
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