Bay of Plenty Rugby chief executive, Mike Rogers, said they would not be pushed into any negotiations. He said they were following their own processes to gain feedback directly from clubs.
Rogers said when the proposal was put to the rugby union at a meeting last month, the Eastern Bay and Central Bay representatives stormed out, missing an opportunity to discuss the competition format.
"I would not want to fast track any meetings before [the clubs] have had a chance to talk with players. We have no time frames."
Central Bay chairman Trevor Albert said they had not heard back from the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union since putting forward the proposal.
"For something as serious as this I thought we might have been contacted by now," he said. "Hopefully there is some negotiating that can be done because we are stronger as one than we are apart."
He said they wanted to have the format and details for a new competition sorted out by October.
Rotoiti president Bruno Gardiner said the Central Bay clubs were standing together, especially when it came to fairer representation of local clubs in top-tier competitions.
However, he said at this stage they wanted to hear back from the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union before going ahead with anything else.
Gardiner said it was a big move to start a new competition and they were not firmly committed to that at this stage.
Eastern Bay chairman John Brophy said this could be solved if the rugby union were willing to sit down and talk.
"It can be solved if we sit down around the table," he said. "I think we need to sit down and negotiate," for equality across the board.
