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Auckland's Mayor Wayne Brown has indicated he'll pull back on some of harsh cuts he had proposed to arts and social services.
But he's signalling it will depend on council's decision on the sale of Auckland airport shares.
Negotiations over the shape of Auckland's budget for the coming year are coming to a crunch point with the mayor set to reveal his final plan for balancing the budget in early June, and addressing the $325m deficit.
In December, Mayor Brown indicated $41m would be cut from Citizens Advice Bureau, homelessness initiatives, regional grants, and funding for regional events, arts, and culture, promoting a record breaking number of public submissions.
Now he says there'll be "significant softening" of the cuts but no full figures have been released.
Kathryn is joined by Kate Anderson, general manager of the Central Auckland Citizens Advice Bureaus and Amy Saunders General Manager of the non profit arts space DEPOT, in Devonport.
Photo: RNZ / Finn Blackwell