An Auckland University of Technology seminar on the ‘supercity' holds warnings for Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty says Mayor of Tauranga Stuart Crosby.
'The devil is in the detail,” says Stuart.
This week's seminar was the second of three on the ‘supercity' being created by forcibly merging four cities, three district councils and one regional authority.

'What the government is proposing in Auckland is quite unique in the world – there is no model,” says Stuart.
This week's seminar focussed on governance issues, the role of a mayor and chief executive officers and how they relate at different levels.
Peter McKinlay is a director of the AUT Local Government Centre which hosted the seminar. He says a danger of the Auckland system is conflicts of loyalty that may be generated between the 20 ward councillors on the Auckland Council and the 20-30 local boards.
The arrangement could divide councillors between ward interests at the expense of regional issues.
In a paper he presented at the seminar Peter says the system will depend on how the tensions are handled, and upon the ability of the chief executive. The Auckland council chief executive will be responsible for advising the council on local board conflicts.
The very complexity of the issues confronting the council and the local boards may force a collaborative approach rather than one based on political expediency.
'Despite the evidence they should be inherently dysfunctional, the sheer complexity of the conflict may be the very incentive to ensure an effective division of function strengthens both regional and local democracy,” says Peter.
If there is ever any similar imposed political amalgamation in the Bay of Plenty the information from the Auckland exercise will be extremely helpful, says Stuart.
Some RMA issues were also examined at the seminar; each of the councils that are being forcibly merged have district plans that are legal documents and the discussion is about how to merge those plans which Stuart says will have to happen if there is ever to be any real progress on the ground.
'If there ever are similar changes for Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty we need to be aware of all the potential fish hooks in the details,” says Stuart.