Wellington Mayor Andrew Little says he, the Prime Minister and the Minister for Local Government Simon Watts agree that an independent inquiry into the failure of the Moa Point wastewater treatment plant is needed as soon as possible.

Little said the meeting with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Energy Minister Simon Watts was "constructive".

"We agreed we do need an independent inquiry…I'm confident that we'll agree on the work ahead."

He said the council and central government will work together to ensure an inquiry is independent and has the right powers to make sure a similar problem never happens again.

He said he would "take the next few days" to consider the best ways to get the quickest response to the situation.

He could not give a time frame as to when the inquiry will take place but said it was important that it was done properly "as quickly as possible".

Little said an inquiry cannot wait until remedial works to get the plant back online are completed as the inquiry needs to inform the actions taken.

He says he is confident the inquiry can get a good understanding of the cause of the fault.

"We need to know what we need to do to fix the plant and move ahead."

Little said the investigation and remediation need to go hand in hand.

Minister for Local Governmet Simon Watts. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

The plant was still in the process of getting waste out before equipment can be replaced and Little said the process could take months.

The plant flooded last week, destroying much of the plant's electronics and sending raw sewage into the nearby south coast.

In a post cabinet briefing with media, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Energy Minister Simon Watts said an inquiry should be done as soon as possible.

"We will talk to the Mayor about how we can help in the best way we possibly can, but there will be a number of review scenarios, the key this here is that we get to an answer quickly," Luxon told media.

"And to work out 'well why has such a critical piece of infrastructure failed so catastrophically'."

Watts told reporters it was the council's responsibility to review what went wrong, however the council review would be supported by the government.

"If there's anything I can do to support that, then I will be offering that to the Mayor."

Watts and Luxon are set to to meet with Little to discuss a number of options.

He said it was "not appropriate to go into those options" before talking to the Mayor.

Watts said the leak was "completely unacceptable" and "pretty unsatisfactory", but said he remained confident in the " the council and the entities involved".

Wellington Water's chief executive has warned nearby beaches may be shut for months.

Little told Midday Report there was large public interest in the failure, meeting the level of a government inquiry.

"Given the range of parties involved… in order to have a genuinely cohesive, independent review, I think a ministerial inquiry is needed," Little said.

"That allows the inquiry to have the powers to get the right information and give us an accurate assessment about the causes of the failures."

Little hopes discussions with Luxon are constructive.

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Wellington Water's Pat Dougherty says early warning signs that there were troubles with the discharge at Moa Point's Wastewater Treatment Plant may have been missed. Audio

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