Action urged on sign ‘clutter’

A Kaiko¯ ura man is challenging the council to take action over the growing number of illegal signs and hoardings ‘‘cluttering’’ the town and the district.

Ralph Hogan raised the problem in the Kaiko¯ura District Council’s public forum last week, after trying for years to persuade council staff to tackle it.

The council’s signs bylaw limits the number of footpath signs and flags and their placement and the advertising area allowed on storefronts. It also bans offsite signs – that is, signs unrelated to their location.

But Hogan said more than 30 businesses were now violating the bylaw and getting away with it. The unlawful objects included offsite signs, trailer signs, moving signs, flashing signs, multiple sandwich boards, and flags and others hanging over footpaths and kerbs.

‘‘The purpose of the bylaw is to ensure that signs do not present a hazard or a danger to public safety and that they don’t spoil the amenity values, the look of our district,’’ he said.

‘‘Some years ago, ratepayers paid more than $13,000 for a report on how to make Kaiko¯ ura a more appealing and inviting place. The first paragraph of the report noted there were too many signs and that made for a ‘cluttered and uninviting’ look.

‘‘One of the appeals of our district is that there are – or were – no billboards lining the highways. The bylaw prohibited them precisely to stop this kind of clutter creeping into our district – only a very few were allowed to remain from before the bylaw came into effect.’’

Despite that, the numbers of roadside signs had continued to grow and despite complaints to the council, it had in most cases failed to enforce its own rules.

‘‘As for the proliferation of flat boards, sandwich signs, and flags, some businesses in West

End and Beach Rd follow the rules but some do not, and it is not fair to those in compliance to have council turn a blind eye to the infractions,’’ Hogan said.

But a business owner contacted for comment said there was no evidence of any hazard.

Rebecca Meikle, the owner of Poppy’s Icecream and Sicarios Mexican Restaurant, has four signs in front of Poppy’s; the dairy next door has four; and further along Kaiko¯ ura Helicopters has one.

‘‘If it was such a concern, there would be injuries,’’ Meikle said.

She believed the drop from the footpath to the road would be more of a danger to the elderly and people using mobility aids.

‘‘We are just trying to get our name out there. How else are we meant to catch people as they drive past?

Hogan was hoping his address to the council last week did not fall on deaf ears.

‘‘I think the councillors were receptive; the pushback I have had has been from staff – they say they don’t have the resource to follow this up and deal with it.’’

The council’s corporate services manager, Murray Dickson, said the council did in fact keep a register but it was not a separate document.

‘‘The list of signs can be extracted from our Ozone system as required for council operations. In other words we don’t have a list sitting around – we can generate a list/register from our system.

‘‘Historically, the council had not actively enforced the signs bylaw and had taken a more lenient enforcement approach in general after the earthquakes, due to the pressures on the community and council,’’ Dickson said.

‘‘With current staff levels and the priorities and workload, we would have to stop or reduce other things to allocate staff time to enforcement of the signs bylaw.’’

The council has now directed staff to send out reminders on the sign rules to the Kaiko¯ura community and businesses.

Hogan said he was pleased the council had now acknowledged there was a problem.

‘‘It is a first step in getting things back on track,’’ he said.

KAIKO¯ URA STAR Kaiko¯ ura, like many towns around the country, was hit hard by Covid. And this came after the quake that cut the town off, so it has not been an easy environment for local businesses.