Book on council history beats challenge

Plans for a $120,000 book about the last 20 years of Auckland City Council history will go ahead, despite a last-gasp attempt to have the full council sign off on the project.

Independent councillor Denise Roche - who dismissed the tome as a "vanity project" - last night told a council meeting the book should have been signed off by the full council, instead of simply being approved by the finance and strategy committee.

The committee last week voted to seek expressions of interest for the publication - which will be paid for from a pool of money saved by a freeze in the past two years on fees of council and community board members.

But Ms Roche believes better uses could have been found for the cash.

"Maybe [the money] should be divvied out to the separate communities ... or to a library, rather than to a book that nobody will read."

The book plan is fiercely opposed by the left-wing City Vision councillors, which believes it will glorify the majority, right-wing Citizens and Ratepayers faction.

City Vision councillors Glenda Fryer, Cathy Casey and Richard Northey also expressed their disappointment about the move to fund the book, and also criticised the approval process.

Council chief executive David Rankin defended the finance and strategy committee's decision to fund the book, and Ms Roche's motion to have the book decision referred back to the full council was ultimately defeated by 13 votes to six.