Mr Lester said there was a clear public will for a levy on plastic bags.
"Not only are 90 per cent of New Zealand's cities and towns represented, but what we've seen over the past month is that the majority of New Zealanders support this levy, and most notably, retailers are on board too," Mr Lester said.
Hastings acting mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said the move was about raising awareness.
"This is a massive issue and it's about encouraging the community to use fewer single-use plastic bags to reduce pollution on both land and sea - we just have to address this."
She said the Hastings and Napier councils were also looking at reducing their own plastic use, including collecting refuse in plastic bags.
"We have a joint waste futures committee looking at all aspects of this and they are due to come back to council in September and potential alternative options to collecting waste in plastic council bags will go out to public consultation in October.
"We're looking forward to seeing what they will come back with."
Napier Mayor Bill Dalton said the issue with plastic bags was not only that they ended up in landfills but also that they ended up in the ocean.
"We have to start somewhere and I think the place to start is putting a levy on these bags - we have to do something while there is no decent way to dispose of them."
CHB Mayor Alex Walker also signed the letter and said the issue was really brought home to her when she was first elected and visited the landfill at Farm Rd in Waipukurau.
"That had a huge impact on me - there were so many plastic bags - we can all be so much more responsible with using them.
"Plastic bags have been so easily available to us we have probably got a bit lazy.
"When you put a bit of thought into it it does not take too much effort to make a difference."
According to Local Government New Zealand, international experience had shown the introduction of levies could be effective and in countries like Denmark, Ireland and China had led to a dramatic reduction in plastic bag use.