Survey shows strong opposition to Wellington super city

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There is strong opposition to a proposed Wellington super city, a survey has shown.

Under a draft proposal announced by the Local Government Commission last year, one "uber council" would take over the functions of the nine councils in the lower North Island.

Following the announcement in December, the public were asked to make submissions on the new unitary authority, which would be called the Greater Wellington Council, by March 2.

As a result a survey of 1000 people was commissioned by the Wellington City Council to guide Wellington City's submission to the commission.

The survey found that support for the commission's proposal was "very weak" - with just 26 per cent supporting the merge.

The survey showed support for the proposal was weakest in the Wairarapa at just 17 per cent, and the Hutt Valley at 18 per cent.

Support was higher in Porirua and Kapiti at 29 per cent and in Wellington at 30 per cent.

Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown said the survey showed there was substantial opposition to the two-tier proposal, and it was doomed to fail if it was put to a regional referendum.

"This is a robust survey and the results are very clear: there is very little appetite among residents in the Wellington region to the Makara to Masterton model as proposed by the Local Government Commission.

"The Local Government Commission's model promotes a two-tier structure that encourages friction rather than a streamlined approach."

The survey had a margin of +/- 3.1 per cent.