By Brook Sabin
One of the most significant events in Auckland's history is underway today, as the new super city comes into being.
A dawn ceremony to bless the new council took place this morning, ahead of the mayor and councillors being sworn in tonight.
The concept has been years in planning, and will see the city become the most powerful economic region in the country.
Twenty-three Maori tribal groups gathered in Aotea Square this morning to bless the council, then mayor-elect Len Brown was whisked away for an almost royal welcome to his new office - which up until last week was occupied by John Banks.
"Feels great, fits like a glove," says Mr Brown.
Tonight, Mr Brown and 20 other councillors will be sworn in at the Town Hall, with a grand ceremony featuring performances by a choir and orchestra.
But then the real work will begin, almost instantly. In his maiden speech, Mr Brown will announce 100 projects to be launched in the first 100 days.
"From small projects that we will deliver in short time frames to large proposals and initiatives that will be done in many years," he says.
It all sounds terribly expensive, but Mr Brown points to a new report which predicts nearly $200 million in savings under the new structure each year, within six years.
Despite that, the report predicts a rates increase of nearly 4 percent in the next 10 months.
"One of the issues on the rates at the moment is there are one-off costs like the Rugby World Cup," says Mark Ford of the Auckland Transition Agency. "They are only going to be short term and once those go, the rates will be able to come down."
Mr Brown knows he's under pressure to keep his promises and keep rates down.
"The single biggest challenge will be the management of our accounts - it is a significant budget."
Elected on pledges of unity and action, it's now time to see whether Mr Brown can make it happen, and perhaps more importantly who will pay.
3 News