Sign of the times - Northern Advocate – 10^th April 2012

Good tidings?

The article ‘Group behind city signs revealed’ could not have come at a better time than on the eve of Good Friday. Whangarei District Council and a few of its entrenched councillors, have for years been seeking funders for their Hundertwasser Project. Many thousands of dollars have already been spent over the years, with overseas travel to Vienna in early 2008, for CEO Mark Simpson and Cr Kahu Sutherland and other extensive campaigns to promote this project; but we are blessed at Easter with our “saviours” coming forward, placing high impact signage around our town. Hopefully these business people are going to grab this project for themselves, make the millions as portrayed by council that’s to be made and fund it with their own money, as they are obviously convinced it is a winner. I personally have not seen or heard of the hundreds of investors queuing to get a bit of the action with some of their projects, our council has had vision for.

Am I mistaken with this theory, or have these business people have the intentions of self rewarding contracts for legal, design, construction, promotional and employment options to line their own coffers?

Let’s hope their intentions are for the towns benefit, or the granting of free permission to erect the signs, by council who may now be losing any neutrality they may have had in the issue, may raise the heckles of some less select business people that are penalised for signage issues in our town. Let’s hope the council is as tolerant of people seeking similar opportunities to promote their ideas around the town, or are we about to experience unlevel playing fields and double standards even more so?

Warren Slater

Maunu

(items abridged by Northern Advocate in italics, for their published copy)