Horizons regional councillors were reluctant to pack their own lunches.

Horizons regional councillors have shot down a suggestion to start packing their own lunch for meetings to cut council spending.

The council was approving changes to their remuneration for travel in a meeting on Monday, when one councillor suggested cutting out lunches from meetings.

Horizons' Palmerston North councillor Rachel Keedwell said getting rid of lunches was an opportunity to cut costs.

"I treat this as a job and I don't go to any other job and expect my employer to provide my lunch."

She referred to a Palmerston North City Council decision to cut lunches from the menu, unless they were expecting special guests.

Council chairman Bruce Gordon said significant savings had already been made compared to past councils.

"In previous councils there used to be a full cooked lunch, bit like a Sunday roast.

"The council thought that was a bit over the top, so came back to what we have now; sandwiches and finger food."

Gordon said he had never received a complaint from ratepayers about receiving a free lunch.

Corporate and Governance group manager Craig Grant told Stuff that in the past year the council had spent about $11,000, including GST, on council lunches.

This included public and non-public council meetings that extended over the lunch period. Meetings that finished at lunchtime were not catered for.

Meetings could also include catering for guests such as government ministers, community leaders and experts who had been invited to discuss matters with the council, Grant said.

Horowhenua councillor Colleen Sheldon said there were councillors that had to travel and did not think comparing it to a district council was a fair comparison.

Manawatu-Rangitikei councillor Gordon McKellar said district councillors could go home in the break whereas some regional councillors did not have that luxury.

Ruapehu councillor Bruce Rollinson appreciated the cost-cutting initiative, but did not expect lunches to produce much cost saving.

"We are picking on the wrong thing. We make million-dollar decisions and that's where we need to make clever million-dollar decisions - rather than worry about our lunch."