The Bledisloe Wharf extension may go ahead, but Ports of Auckland's plans for reclamation are now in serious doubt.

The mayor and most councillors have favoured tightening up the rules for reclamation, but a slim majority now want to have the rules re-examined.

Auckland councillor Chris Darby has led opposition to port expansion and spoke at major on and off-water protest yesterday.

Councillor Cameron Brewer says the public favour a ban, and councillors need to hold another vote on the issue at their meeting on Thursday.

"They want us to really draw a line in the sand, say enough is enough, and work within the existing footprint of Auckland."

Pressure is mounting on the port to delay its planned extension of Bledisloe Wharf.

The company has consent to begin extending the wharf next week.

But Cameron Brewer says the plans are at odds with what councillors want and what the public has been asking for.

"In 2013, we slapped a non-compliance classification across the whole of the Ports of Auckland port zone."

The bizarre stoush between the council and the council-owned company is being described as an example of what happens when a council tries to regulate a company it owns.

Cameron Brewer says the council's ownership of the port has given it a conflict of interest.

"The councillors and the mayor are terribly conflicted because we are trying to protect the environment but we're trying to grow the Ports of Auckland."

Meanwhile, Labour Party MP Phil Goff has also joined the growing opposition to the proposal and is calling on the Auckland Council to step in and stop the project.

He says as owner of the port company, the Council has the power and the right to intervene.

"The directors of the ports are appointed by the council. If they were to tell the council to get lost they can and should be replaced. It's that simple."

But Ports of Auckland have insisted several reports on the port show it needs to expand, and it has approval to carry out its wharf extension.