Concerns delay naming of 'Super City' transition board

Local Government Minister Rodney Hide. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Cabinet has not agreed on who will run the Auckland council transition agency, delaying an announcement that was expected to be made today.

Local Government Minister Rodney Hide was due to release the names following a Cabinet meeting today, however his spokeswoman told journalists that no decision had been reached.

Among other things the agency has the power to veto local bodies in the region and contracts worth more than $20,000.

Over the weekend Labour dragged out the debate on two bills to set up a single council in Auckland, but the Government introduced its own amendments to gazump Labour's efforts.

The first bill was passed into law and sets up the concept of a single council and a transition agency to manage the change, while the second which outlines broad detail about the council was sent to a special select committee for submissions.

Mr Hide said before Cabinet today that the transition agency was the first step toward "crunching" the seven councils and regional authority into one organisation.

"The councils will continue as business as usual, but what they need is somewhere to go to say `look we're thinking of making this decision, would this compromise the new council and ratepayers into the future?'," he told Radio New Zealand.

There was already a list of names of those who would be on the transition agency.

Mr Hide would not say who was on the list.

He said he hoped to release it this afternoon but required cabinet approval first.

"Well, we'll see," Mr Hide said, when questioned about who was likely to be on the agency.

- NZPA