KEY POINTS:
Dick Hubbard's dream to build an Auckland "supercity" has hit a snag, with the Green and Maori parties refusing to support plans for a radical council overhaul.
The Auckland City mayor and his fellow regional mayors were asked to vote secretly in December on a new governance model for Auckland and have been pushing to replace the Auckland Regional Council with a new authority - the Greater Auckland Council.
Local Government Minister Mark Burton met Auckland's mayors and the ARC in March to discuss the plans and give the councils a few more months to decide on a single plan for reform.
He said that legislation would be passed in time for the changes to take effect at the local body polls in October, giving Aucklanders the chance to vote for a Lord Mayor.
Yet for any legislation to be passed in time to create a Greater Auckland Council, Labour would need the support of the Greens and the Maori Party to fast-track the bill.
Auckland Green MP Keith Locke said the party, which Labour depends on to pass legislation, was opposed to a "supercity" that weakened the powers of the city and district councils.
He preferred a forum with over-arching powers so it could govern the growth strategy for the region, as well as transport and environment issues, without weakening "grassroots" councils.
"In a sense, it was just a revamped ARC with a different name," Locke said. "But we didn't like the Lord Mayor concept of some all-powerful mayor or the idea of government appointees."
Maori Party co-leader Dr Pita Sharples said consultation was a huge issue for the Maori Party, and councils were not engaging Maori properly. "There is a huge risk that Maori issues will be submerged within the supercity concept," Sharples said.
Last September, Auckland's four metropolitan mayors launched a bid - which failed - to carve the region into three cities, to be presided over by a Lord Mayor. Days later, the coup was squashed, but the Government asked Auckland's eight councils to vote on a preferred model of regional governance.
The Herald on Sunday revealed the secret plan after obtaining documents outlining the three options:
* Retention of the status quo but with a regional forum established with representatives from all councils to prepare "one plan" for Auckland.
* The ceding by councils of some power and autonomy to a regional assembly of appointed representatives from existing elected councillors.
* The creation of a new regional authority to effectively replace the ARC.
Hubbard told the Herald on Sunday that he still preferred the model mooted by the mayors last year but could "live with" a Greater Auckland Council. He said talks of amalgamation between councils had been shelved, but the Government was running out of time to make changes before the election.
"Everyone agrees regional governance needs to be strengthened, but the problem is that the councils are concerned that their powers will be taken away," he said. "The reality is, you can't have one without the other."
