Wellington's longest serving councillor is criticising the city's mayor, after plans to bid for the V8 Supercars race were shelved.

Mayor Kerry Prendergast is blaming difficulties in getting resource consent for the decision, but Helene Ritchie says it was irresponsible to even consider the bid, which has cost Wellington ratepayers around $175,000.

Ms Ritchie says it was unfair to have raised the expectations of race enthusiasts to the point where they thought the city could host the race.