It's back to the drawing board for one of the local boards at Auckland Council.

The Albert-Eden Board wants to pay swimming pool staff the Living Wage which is now $19.25 an hour, but it's been overruled by the mandarins at the Council, who don't like the idea of a precedent being set.

Council chief Stephen Town says paying the Living Wage would have ramifications beyond the Board's area of responsibility, and bring about untenable consequences for himself as the employer of council staff.