23 Jun 2011

Regional council chair sees merit in super Wellington city

5:16 pm on 23 June 2011

Wellington Regional Council chair Fran Wilde says a super city model could work for the area, as long as it does not repeat Auckland's mistakes.

PricewaterhouseCoopers last year said the current structure was unsustainable, and in a report suggested six options ranging from a super council to staying with the status quo.

Ms Wilde says that if an over-ruling council was in place, it would be best to keep territorial authorities in some form so that local voices were still heard.

Ms Wilde says the re-structure of Auckland City destroyed councils' institutional knowledge and residents' knowledge of their councils, and set up little boards with no power at all.