12 wards and 20 boards likely for Super City

The Auckland Super City will be made up of 12 wards with about 20 local boards at the grassroots democracy level, the Herald understands.

A source said yesterday that the Local Government Commission has opted for four single-member wards and eight two-member wards to provide strong local representation on the Auckland Council.

This follows an earlier decision by the Government to do away with councillors elected at large across the region and a push by some councillors to have multi-member wards of up to six councillors.

The commission, an independent body, will release details of the wards and second-tier local boards tomorrow. It has gone for about 20 boards, including one each for Waiheke and Great Barrier Island, which have been flagged by the Government.

The Government set the commission the task of providing 20 to 30 local boards.

The four single wards for the Auckland Council include one seat each for Franklin and Rodney district councils.