Mayors seek common ground on Super City

Auckland's mayors have abandoned the bickering and are seeking areas of agreement on the Super City so they can make a united approach to the Government.

John Banks of Auckland City hosted his counterparts from Manukau, North Shore and Waitakere on Friday to pull together issues on which there is broad agreement.

Submissions on a Government bill establishing the structure of the Super City close on Friday. Parliament's Auckland governance legislation committee is to start holding public hearings in Auckland on July 6.

Mr Banks said the public view was that the mayors had many differences, but they had a lot of common ground and some debate at the margins.

It would be really useful for Auckland if the mayors could present a unified view to the select committee.

"United we stand and divided Wellington will rule," he said.

Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey said: "We have put aside anger and anguish for the collective good of the future and that is a very positive sign."

Mr Banks, the only confirmed contender for the mayoralty of the new Auckland Council, has had fiery exchanges with North Shore Mayor Andrew Williams over the Super City.

In April, Mr Banks mistakenly sent a text to Mr Williams calling him a lunatic. A few days earlier, Mr Williams texted Mr Banks recommending he work with the other mayors and not be the "lone wolf".

It appears the mayors are reasonably united on pushing for greater powers for local boards under the Auckland Council and using existing wards as the basis for fewer than the 20 to 30 locals boards favoured by the Government.

Mr Williams said instead of local boards being glorified ratepayer groups, they had to have real powers and functions set in law.

Mr Harvey said he and the other mayors wanted to put aside the nonsense that the boards' powers would be limited to "brothels, dogs and graffiti".

"We are looking at meaningful and wide roles for the boards," he said.

Manukau Mayor Len Brown said that with more work and goodwill, the mayors could agree on the number of local boards.

He favoured 11 community councils - his term for local boards - and two community boards for Waiheke and Great Barrier Islands as promised by the Government.

Another proposal floated was something like 17 local boards drawn up from wards in the four main cities - five each in Auckland City and Manukau, four in North Shore and three in Waitakere.

Mr Brown said the community would appreciate the mayors working in a reasonably collaborative way and the Government was looking for cohesion on key points.

The big-city mayors are to meet their district council colleagues and Auckland Regional Council chairman Mike Lee at the mayoral forum on Friday where they plan to develop a wider consensus.

Rodney and Franklin district councils want to be excluded from the Super City.