Mayors in the Wellington region say an Auckland-style super-city is not the aim of a local government review.
The eight councils have been debating a possible restructure of local government since November last year, following briefings on what Auckland's new set-up could mean for the rest of New Zealand.
Councils in the Auckland region are to be amalgamated into one super-council later this year.
Councils in the Wellington region are to appoint consultants who will ask what people think of local government and how well it is working.
The mayoral forum held in Upper Hutt says the consultants' findings could be made public before local government elections in October this year.
Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy says no decisions on reform will be made yet and the exercise was to just gauge feeling.
United Future leader Peter Dunne has warned that unless Wellington reorganises itself, it could be dominated by Auckland.
