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The Royal Commission into Auckland plans to call for public submissions in February and March and wants to hear from as wide a range of people as possible.
The commission - consisting of chairman Peter Salmon, Dame Margaret Bazley and David Shand - was appointed on October 29.
"The commission's aim is to recommend a form of local body governance which will serve Auckland well now and for the next 50 years," Justice Salmon said.
"This means thinking carefully about what the future holds for Auckland, its identity, the competitive and other pressures on Auckland, its ethnic mix and Auckland's place in the Pacific and the world."
The commission was particularly interested in the public's views on how local government should be structured in Auckland, and the governance and representation arrangements needed to provide effective leadership and adequate representation for the various communities within the Auckland region, he said.
"We will be calling for public submissions in February or March and will aim to engage as wide a cross section as possible."
- NZPA