Dunedin's community boards could be on track to extinction, removing a long-held link between the public and council.
But the board chairs warned at a council meeting on Monday that they, and the communities they served, would fight for their survival.
All six of the city's community board chairs appeared at the meeting called to debate Dunedin's 2015 Representation Review proposal.
The review suggested Dunedin's six current community boards have their boundaries adjusted to ensure urban areas were not covered.
It suggested two of those boards, the Strath Taieri and Mosgiel Taieri boards, be amalgamated into one Taieri Rural board, with Mosgiel's urban area and North Taieri's lifestyle area no longer represented.
It suggested the boards' current six-strong membership tally be reduced to four.
The Representation Review panel, chaired by University of Otago Associate Prof Janine Hayward, said while the report did not suggest scrapping all community boards, it suggested ''a transition'' to reduce the number of boards, and the number of people serving on them.
Saddle Hill Community Board chairman Scott Weatherall said he was concerned a reduction in community board members would result in a slower response when residents need help in a natural disaster, such as the recent flooding.
Strath Taieri Community Board chairman Barry Williams said the rural Strath Taieri residents had different problems than city residents.
''People aren't often aware of the problems we have.''
The council voted 11 to 3 in favour of sending the proposal to public consultation, which will run for a month from June 27.
The final decision will be made by the Local Government Commission early next year.
