The deadline for the full report into Havelock North's water contamination crisis has been pushed back nine months.
Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
More than 5000 people in Havelock North became sick with gastrointestinal illness in August last year after the Hawke's Bay town's drinking water became contaminated.
An independent inquiry was tasked with looking at how the water became contaminated, how well authorities responded, and providing recommendations for managing water supply throughout New Zealand.
The panel, which began proceedings in October last year, was supposed to report back by the end of March.
However, at the panel's request, Attorney-General Chris Finlayson said it would now report back to the government in two stages.
The first stage, investigating how the water became contaminated and how well authorities responded, was now due by 12 May.
The second stage - which will address systemic issues and provide recommendations about managing water supply throughout New Zealand - was pushed back to early December.
Hearings were delayed by a month when Hawke's Bay Regional Council tried to prosecute Hastings District Council over a resource consent issue to do with the town water bores.
That was later dropped but the panel said delays caused by the legal action was one of the reasons for pushing back the report date.
A report leaked to RNZ earlier this year showed the water supply was contaminated by a surface pond less than 100 metres from a bore.