Ask Phoebe: Rest easy, folks, the name will stay the same

After amalgamation, residents throughout Greater Auckland will have free access to all of the region's public libraries. Photo / Dean Purcell

Q. I don't live in Auckland but visit regularly. I have been unable to find out what the new entity is actually going to be called, ie, what is going to be on the letterhead or the traffic offence notice. Given that there are cities with much greater populations, I would cringe with embarrassment if it were to be called Auckland Super City. Please assure me this will not be the case. Toby Morcom, Whitianga.

Flinch no more, Mr Morcom. The city will be called Auckland.

All of this reorganisation of the city and abolition of the current city and district councils, as well as the ARC, must be costing a huge amount. How much, exactly? Where is it being spent? And when will I see these costs reflected in my almost-certain rates increase? Maryanne Campbell, Greenlane.

In early May, the cost was estimated at $81 million - and rising. By the end of that month, it had reached $200 million, and of course it's not over yet.

The big-ticket items have been $34.4 million for the Auckland Transition Agency, $125.7 million implementation costs (mostly for information technology), $26.5 million Watercare set-up costs, and $14.2 million council costs.

The Royal Commission on Auckland Governance, which set this juggernaut in motion, estimated that set-up costs would be between $120 million and $240 million. The ratepayers of the area are footing the bill, so rate rises are almost assured. Some of the money has come from existing council coffers, but it's still money that could have been spent elsewhere.

A new unified rating system will be developed as part of the planning and budgeting programme from 2012. Until the new Auckland Council is in place the rating status quo will remain.

I live on the North Shore, geographically if not nominally for much longer. Will I be able to use the Auckland City libraries after the amalgamation? Rex Blane, Glenfield.

A similar question has been asked by Stephen Taylor of Blockhouse Bay. You certainly will, and even the libraries in Waitakere and Manukau or anywhere else in the region if you choose. There are 55 libraries in the region, and four mobile libraries. There will be no joining or membership fees for residents of the Auckland region, loan periods for some items will increase, and there won't be overdue fines for children or teenagers. So you'll be able to pick up one or more of the 3.5 million items that will be available from one library and return it to any of the others. Excellent stuff.

At present North Shore City has an extremely reasonable set of dog control rules, covering when they can be on/off leads around beaches, parks etc at various times of the year.

Auckland City, on the other hand, has draconian and far stricter dog control rules. Once we have a Super City, will these kinds of bylaws be regionalised or are dog owners on the North Shore going to have to put up with Auckland City's current rules? Brian Leybourne, Birkdale.

Decisions on matters such as dog exercise areas and leashed and unleashed areas are likely to be made by local boards rather than the new Auckland Council. Until the boards are in place and settled in, the status quo will apply.