Rodney Hide

Wellington, Oct 27 NZPA - Local Government Minister Rodney Hide said "far-reaching" decisions made by Cabinet today over the running of local authorities will be made public this week.

Mr Hide said he took three papers to Cabinet this morning, which were about transparency and accountability in the operation of local councils.

The Government had an objective to keep rates rises to a minimum and that was being addressed, he said.

Cabinet had asked him to communicate the details of the decisions to affected councils before publicly releasing them.

Mr Hide has been criticised for a perceived intention to restrict council spending to core services, with fears social services spending would cease.

However, he appears to have softened his stance recently under the guidance of his National Party partner, but maintains priorities for councils include the likes of roading, water and sewage infrastructure rather than stadiums or housing.

"I've always said councils should concentrate on core services and I haven't changed my view on that," he told reporters today.

"It's also very clear that I've had to work in with the National Party and we've got a good result for the councils and the people of New Zealand."

North Shore Mayor Andrew Williams said while Mr Hide may appear to have backed down from his initial core services only plan, when it came to Auckland's new "super city", his intentions were concerning.

He said Mr Hide's agenda was to impose a commercial model of governance on the city, where many decisions would effectively be made by independent companies and rubber stamped by the council.