No ratepayer funds on panda plan, says mayor

It was reported last month that Wellington City Council would look at a business case for bringing the animals from China to Wellington Zoo. Photo / iStock

Wellington's mayor says no ratepayer money has been spent on a business case to bring a panda to Wellinton Zoo.

Prime Minister John Key is a big supporter of the panda plan and has pledged taxpayer money, but one local councillor who is opposed believes the project could cost up to $100 million.

It was reported last month that Wellington City Council would look at a business case for bringing the animals from China to Wellington Zoo.

But Wellington mayor Celia Wade-Brown today said no proposal was being prepared.

"Unless central government shows strong enthusiasm for a substantial investment, no work will be done."

She said information shared with the office of minister Gerry Brownlee - who hand-delivered New Zealand's panda proposal when he visited the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base in Chengdu last month - was substantially the same as that shared with the prime minister's office last year and in 2010.

Wellington City Council chief executive Kevin Lavery confirmed that no "panda proposal" was under preparation.