"We really do have to look at whether local councils should be able to rate and spend accordingly rather than having funding decisions made remotely."

Manukau Mayor Len Brown, whose council proposed a three-city model, said the commission "is taking away the control of local councils to provide for local communities".

"We can only hope that the Government realises that these recommendations may not be in the best interest of the people who live in this region, and does not adopt them without sufficient input from local councils or reflect the diverse needs of our residents."

Penny Webster, Mayor of the Rodney District in the north of Auckland, was unhappy at the plan to remove Orewa and Whangaparaoa from the Rodney local council area and making it part of the Waitemata urban area.

"Most of our people from there see themselves as part of the Hibiscus Coast or Rodney," she told NZPA. "They don't see themselves as Aucklanders."

She said Rodney District should either become its own unitary authority or maintain its district council while looking to Northland as its regional council.

Papakura Mayor Calum Penrose said the plan would be "an absolute disaster" for his district, which would all but disappear.

"Much of what we do is about building local communities and bringing people together," he said. "Under this model you would lose local connection and lose local democracy.

"This commission was orchestrated by the last government and I would hope this government would not tolerate this."

A spokesman for Franklin District Council said no response would be made until Monday.

Several other commentators thought change was needed to the local councils proposal.

Council for Infrastructure Development chief executive Stephen Selwood said most of the plans for infrastructure delivery were sound, but that the six local councils "are far too big to be local".

Local Government New Zealand president Lawrence Yule said he was "very concerned about the loss of local democracy, the loss of community boards and the lack of detail on any significant savings".

Alasdair Thompson of the Employers and Manufacturers' Association said the new councils sounded like very large community boards, which under the old model were unable to do much for communities in Auckland.

He said the local councils would only be able to do much if the Auckland Council engaged meaningfully with them, delegates them responsibility for local amenities and consults over planning local issues.

Alex Swney of central city advocates Heart of the City said the new structure "is the sort of medicine Auckland needs" .

- NZPA