KEY POINTS:
The Royal Commission of Inquiry on Auckland Governance can expect some pretty radical ideas from the public for a shake-up of local government.
But receiving a submission at the extreme end of the debate from the region's biggest council, Auckland City, will probably hinder rather than help the three commissioners.
Auckland City officers - with tacit support from politicians - have come up with a bold plan mirroring earlier models pushed by business interests.
They want to abolish the region's seven territorial councils, its community boards and its one regional council. The 264 elected representatives would be replaced by a 26-strong "Greater Auckland Council", including a lord mayor elected at large.
The plan appears a simple solution to resolve the region's longstanding and complex governance challenges, which lie at the heart of the Government's decision to appoint a royal commission to reshape the political landscape.
In an open letter to the people of Auckland, the commission said: "It is desirable on some matters Auckland should speak with one voice, but we also need a system that enables people to be heard and to be involved in matters of local interest."
On both counts, Auckland City's draft submission tests the boundaries of these aspirations.
The Greater Auckland Council has the distinct look of an Auckland parliament. It takes on a stronger political look by adopting parliamentary boundaries to elect "neighbourhood" councillors.
Whether Wellington would allow such a powerful political structure is a moot point. At the local level, it is hard to see how 21 neighbourhood councillors - the other five being the lord mayor and four area mayors - however well resourced, could serve the needs of 1.3 million people.
As well as dealing with Mrs Jones' blocked drain, neighbourhood councillors would have to focus on 30-year regional spatial plans and billion-dollar transport projects.
Finally, there is the suspicion among other councils that Auckland City is simply using the royal commission to gobble up the region, with John Banks primed for lord mayor and the council bureaucracy moving into the top jobs.
