Mayors hatch one-city plan

Auckland's four big-city mayors have drawn up a secret plan to reduce the number of councils in the region before the 2011 Rugby World Cup and intend presenting it to the Prime Minister on Thursday.

Manukau Mayor Sir Barry Curtis yesterday confirmed that he and Auckland City's Dick Hubbard, Waitakere's Bob Harvey and North Shore's George Woods had been working on a new governance structure for the region.

He declined to give details and the other three were even less forthcoming about the plan, which was developed secretly with no input from the Auckland Regional Council and the smaller district councils - Franklin, Papakura and Rodney.

Mr Hubbard said: "We believe very strongly we are going to have to look at governance structures if we are going to deliver on the Rugby World Cup."

ARC chairman Mike Lee was upset at not being invited to participate, saying it gave rise to suspicions of bad faith and predatory moves to dismember the ARC and grab its assets.

"There's a triennial agreement that mayors and chief executives sign at the start of the council term which talks about openness and collaborativeness, but this gives the impression that some of the mayors are being quite sneaky," he said.

The Herald understands Rugby World Cup Minister Trevor Mallard and Local Government Minister Mark Burton will join Helen Clark at the meeting, set down for the mayoral office in Auckland.

A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said: "I understand the mayors are seeking a meeting but can't confirm if it is pinned down in the Prime Minister's diary."

The planned meeting follows growing interest in a single-city structure for Auckland. Last month, Finance Minister Michael Cullen and his National counterpart, John Key, expressed a desire for Auckland to evolve towards a single vision and a single approach.

A "OneAuckland Trust" is about to be launched with the aim of replacing the councils with one body, led by a mayor and 25 councillors. The trust is fronted by Grant Kirby, a former senior Auckland City officer and immediate past president of the Local Government Commission.

The latest Herald-DigiPoll survey found 47.8 per cent of Aucklanders favoured one council for the metropolitan area and 49.5 per cent were opposed. Asked if four main city councils and the ARC were too many, 44.8 per cent of the 212 respondents said yes and 49.8 per cent no.

The mayors' plan could include a timetable for bringing about change, with the 2011 Rugby World Cup the catalyst, but is unlikely to include a single vision.