Officials overseeing Auckland's move to a combined super-city have dented one council's plans to spend up large ahead of the merger.
North Shore City planned to spend about $14 million before the new region-wide council takes over in November.
The Auckland Transition Agency has intervened, giving the green light to $8.1 million worth of spending but saying no to five of the proposed projects, worth $4.7 million.
North Shore mayor Andrew Williams says the council wanted to use money from the sale of one of its properties to fast-track a number of community projects.