Auckland Council's planning committee pressed ahead with plans to scope the next stage for the future of the city's port, shaking off objections the political hot potato might face interference from Wellington.

The committee met Tuesday to discuss the next steps in the 2016 consensus working group report into the port's long-term future, which put forward several options to secure the multi-generational viability of the hub, including relocation.

The council put off deciding what to do with the report until after last year's local body elections, which installed a new mayor in Phil Goff.

Some committee members cited the political uncertainty and NZ First leader Winston Peters's bid to shift Auckland's freight service to Northport as a reason for another delay.

But a proposal by councillor Christine Fletcher to put off the decision until the next committee meeting in a month was narrowly defeated in an eight-nine vote.

The Auckland council committee then backed the resolution to receive the report and direct the chief executive to undertake a scoping process to investigate options for the port, including other alternatives that may come from central government.

It also supported an amendment to lobby central government to instigate an upper North Island port strategy, something the Crown has been reluctant to pursue.

"We do need to front this; we do need to start this; the can has been kicked down the road long enough," deputy mayor Bill Cashmore said.

Mr Peters is currently in negotiations with the Labour and National parties to form the next government, setting a deadline for Thursday to make a decision.

Among his campaign pledges was relocation of Auckland's container port operations to Northport at Marsden Point by 2027.

The future of Auckland's port has been the subject of much debate with industrial operations on the city's waterfront seen as an eyesore by some and a potentially lucrative source of income for the local body, if the land were put to a different use.