Kapiti Observer

Where have the Ps gone?

- VIRGINIA FALLON

It was the erfect crime.

In a most mysterious move, the letter P has been taped over on dozens of road signs on the Kapiti Coast, north of Wellington, bemusing motorists and annoying the council.

The vandals struck over the weekend and in broad daylight: two young men in hi-vis vests were seen using a ladder on Sunday to reach one sign on Kapiti Rd, one of the busiest streets in Paraparaum­u – or ara araumu, as it has now become.

The man behind the stunt was artist Hohepa Thompson, of Hori studio in Otaki, who said he and his fellow campaigner­s tried to hit every P they saw from Palmerston North to Porirua to get people to focus on ridding com- munities of methamphet­amine.

‘‘Our whole kaupapa at Hori is we don’t follow the rules ... we push boundaries,’’ Thompson said on Monday night.

‘‘I got to that point where I was like, I have had enough of it [methamphet­amine],’’ he said. ‘‘And we have a platform here we can do something about it.’’

The P-less placenames are just the start, with Thompson encouragin­g everyone to take the Ps out of everything until September 23.

But Kapiti Mayor K Gurunathan was not impressed. ‘‘There are other ways of raising awareness, and messing around with traffic signs is not it.’’

Altering road signs could be considered wilful damage and didn’t achieve much in the way of public goodwill, he said. The issue of methamphet­amine use on the coast was something he was looking at, and would address with the Wellington region’s mayors at a future forum.

‘‘I’m starting to hear the stories and it’s worrying me, and I’ve asked to get more data on it.’’

Kapiti Coast District Council environmen­tal standards manager Jacquie Muir said wilfully damaging property was an offence and not condoned by council and offenders could face imprisonme­nt or a fine up to $2000.

Anti-methamphet­amine campaigner and drug counsellor Andrew Hopgood said he did not know who was behind the stunt, but said it was good to get people talking about the drug.

‘‘Kapiti is swimming in the stuff ... it’s a massive problem and I can’t play it down.’’

In the past two weeks, he had seen a dozen Kapiti people seeking treatment for addiction.

On Monday morning, many of the signs had had their letters unmasked as a council maintenanc­e crew peeled off the tape.

But dozens still sported crossed-out letters, and motorists reported it wasn’t just Kapiti that had been targeted. Porirua’s Postgate Dr briefly lost its P, and signs in Levin had also fallen prey to the mysterious vandals.

One Kapiti motorist, who gave his name only as Jim, said he thought the signs were ‘‘hilarious’’ and encouraged the council to leave them unchanged.

‘‘I had a bit of a chuckle on my way past them this morning.’’

 ?? PHOTO: VIRGINIA FALLON ?? Kapiti Mayor K Gurunathan says there are better ways of raising awareness about methamphet­amine abuse than altering traffic signs.
PHOTO: VIRGINIA FALLON Kapiti Mayor K Gurunathan says there are better ways of raising awareness about methamphet­amine abuse than altering traffic signs.
 ??  ?? Otaki artist Hohepa Thompson, with Tracey Doyle, in front of another sign with which he previously courted controvers­y.
Otaki artist Hohepa Thompson, with Tracey Doyle, in front of another sign with which he previously courted controvers­y.

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