Mayor angry at Navy move

The Navy's chiefs in Devonport will shift to Wellington in a move dubbed a "back-door" way of reducing military presence in Auckland.

North Shore City Mayor George Wood is outraged that the head of the Navy in Auckland, the Maritime Commander, Commodore Mike Wardlaw, and his operating staff will move to the Defence Force's new joint operational headquarters at Trentham in July.

Forty Navy personnel will join 67 staff from the air command headquarters at Whenuapai airbase in moving to the Trentham Army base in the Hutt Valley.

"It seems the downgrading of the Navy, which has also occurred with the Air Force downgrading its Base Commander at Whenuapai ... is a back-door way of reducing the military presence in Auckland," Mr Wood said.

"Shipping Commodore Wardlaw 400 miles south to land-locked Trentham sounds like a very bad joke. It's also a bad move [for] ... defence relations in Auckland."

Navy spokesman Lieutenant-Commander Ant Carter said the maritime command in Auckland would cease to exist from July 1.

The joint force headquarters, under Major-General Martyn Dunne, will include all three operational arms of the Defence Force - the Army, Navy and Air Force. It will control overseas deployments as well as exercises and training activities.

Defence Minister Mark Burton said the headquarters was aimed at obtaining maximum efficiency. was aimed at obtaining maximum efficiency.