Ministers need $21k for cross

A cross which stood at the entrance of Cambridge was once seen as a sign of hope but to the authorities, it was a health and safety problem.

Waipa District Council removed the well-known ‘‘Homecoming Cross’’, near Lake Te Koo Utu, when work began on the $3.1 million roundabout at the nearby intersection of Cambridge and Victoria roads.

The roundabout was now completed and interest was building to have a new cross reinstated.

The Cambridge Ministers Association has started a funding

‘‘The Cambridge Ministers Association has started a funding drive to raise the $21,400 needed for a new cross.’’

drive to raise the $21,400 needed for a new cross, to stand in the same place as the old one.

It’s hoped it could be in sight within the next few months.

The ministers association signed a memorandum of understanding with the council on the ongoing upkeep of the new cross.

The council made a visual inspection of the cross in 2017 and decided to remove it because it was deemed a health and safety risk while people were working on the roundabout.

The council’s chief executive Garry Dyett said the council had researched to find out who owned the cross.

‘‘It has never been a council asset and was never our responsibility to provide maintenance for it,’’ he said.