Hide plans new Super City committee

Rodney Hide. Photo / NZ Herald

Local Government Minister Rodney Hide wants to set up a new Cabinet Committee to hear the new Auckland Council's pleas and weigh up the Government's responses. It would have the power to reject any requests from Mayor-elect Len Brown and his council.

Mr Hide told The Aucklander he hasn't raised his idea with Cabinet but has mentioned it to Mr Brown.

Asked why the idea has only emerged now, so far into the transition process and two weeks after the election produced a left-leaning Mayor and Council, Mr Hide replied: "That's being a little unkind. We have been working on it for a while. We've given it a fair bit of thought. We have discussed these things with [Auckland Council chief planning officer] Roger Blakely and [interim chief executive] Doug McKay.

"We didn't want to be saying to the new Auckland Council, 'Here's the process, buddy'. We'd rather be saying, 'Here's the proposal, what do you think of it?' It may even be a bit soon to be raising it with Len."

Mr Hide said the current situation for Auckland dealing with Wellington is too convoluted. "When Doug McKay came to Wellington recently, he met 27 chief executives and each of these is making decisions about Auckland. It seems to me we need to get a good dialogue going."

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