Wellington City councillors have emerged from an urgent meeting called by Mayor Tory Whanau after Government ministers labelled the council a “shambles” and threatened to intervene.

The meeting started at 2.30pm and finished shortly before 4pm.

Whanau has also requested a meeting with Local Government Minister Simeon Brown who she intends to present a plan to tomorrow.

This is after the council voted to stop the sale of the council’s 34% share in the airport - upending the long-term plan (LTP). The sale was designed to help solve two serious financial risks: the council’s $2.6 billion under-insurance problem and the lack of diversity in its investment portfolio.

Labour councillor Ben McNulty, who played a key part in stopping the airport shares sale, said it was the most productive meeting he and his colleagues have had.

“There was a lack of ego in the room, for once, a lack of politics. The airport’s done and dusted, no one’s relitigating that and we’re moving on.”

McNulty said the council has a proposed approach to take to the minister.

“After today, with what the mayor’s proposing to bring to the minister tomorrow, any government intervention at that point is politics rather than actually the issue being addressed.”

Whanau insisted today that everything will be fine and she appeared confident Government intervention is unnecessary.

The airport vote was a significant loss for Whanau who championed the sale and planned her 10-year budget around it.

The council now needs to amend its long-term plan and cut up to $600 million in capital spending to create additional debt headroom to respond to insurance risks.

Councillor Tim Brown said there was a great deal of enthusiasm to be proactive and responsible in the way councillors address the challenges they’re facing.

He said he had confidence in the council and the mayor’s ability to sort this out.

Asked whether she had concerns about the mayor’s leadership, Councillor Diane Calvert said: “We need to see how the next month or so go. We can’t fix the problems by doing the same process.”

It was still unclear exactly how much would need to be cut in capital spending, Calvert said.

As for what could be cut, Calvert suggested social housing upgrades could be done more quickly and cheaply and money could be saved from transport projects.

She said water investment should not be touched and described it as being sacrosanct.

Brown said the Government was yet to receive advice but ministers were very concerned because the council looked like “a shambles”.

“Ultimately, this is concerning for Wellington ratepayers who are looking at this and asking, ‘what does this mean for my rates bill – I’m already facing some of the highest rates in the country, is that going to make them go up even further?’,” Brown said.

Brown said he was looking at options under Part 10 of the Local Government Act. These include formal requests for information from the council, appointing a Crown observer, a Crown manager, or even a commission.

There was a “high threshold” for intervention because the council had been democratically elected, he said.

Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist