Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown says three or four councils make more sense for the region than a super-city.

Speaking to 3 News' Firstline programme this morning, Ms Wade-Brown said there was little public appetite for a super-city.

''Unless the view of the public changes there's certainly not going to be a super-city in the near future,'' she said.

However, there was a need for greater co-operation between councils and reducing the region's councils from nine to three or four made ''a lot more sense''.

Last week The Dominion Post reported that the Local Government Reform Working Party had agreed to lodge an amalgamation proposal by late April.

The working party was set up by the Greater Wellington regional council and the Porirua City Council to negotiate a joint amalgamation proposal to be presented to the Local Government Commission. It had previously planned to lodge an application next month but is now aiming for April.

Wellington City Council, Porirua City Council and Kapiti and Coast District Council are also involved, but councils in the Hutt Valley and Wairarapa did not join the initiative.

Working party chairman Ken Douglas said the public would get a chance to have an input before the proposal was filed.

If a proposal was lodged by the end of April, the commission could review it and come up with its recommendations before the next local body elections in October.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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