Turangi welcome sign unwelcome, says council
A Turangi business owner is refusing to remove a roadside sign, saying he is trying to help tourists find their way.
He is now facing a $750 fine. Taupo¯ District Council, however, says the sign breaks an NZTA rule which prohibits advertising signs that look similar to official road signs.
Ross Baker, co-owner of Tongariro River Motel, said he installed a ‘‘Welcome to Turangi – Trout fishing capital of the World’’ sign at Turangi’s northern SH1 entrance nearly eight years ago.
‘‘The [old] sign was up there for many years and we never heard a peep from the council,’’ he said.
When Baker removed the old sign in December 2015 and put up a new one, the council told Baker he needed to apply for a resource consent for the sign. A $300 fine was threatened.
‘‘We refused to pay of course,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ve been here for 15 years and we’ve always been refreshing the signs.’’
But he eventually applied for and was granted resource consent in March 2017 for the welcome sign and an adjoining sign advertising Rafting New Zealand. The process cost $1500 and the $300 fine disappeared.
One of the conditions of consent, however, was that by April 13, 2017, he remove two additional signs at the bottom of the rafting advertisement featuring the words: ‘‘Turn left to Tongariro River’’ and ‘‘Turn right into town centre’’.
New Zealand Transport Agency’s traffic control devices manual states a person must not install ‘‘a sign, device or object that is not a traffic control device, but that may be mistaken for a traffic control device’’, in view of drivers heading down the road.
The manual also stipulates minimum font sizes in different speed zones. Baker’s sign is in an 80kmh zone.
Eleven months later, on January 23, 2018, a Taupo¯ District Council planner called Baker and asked him to remove the wording, as per the consent, following a request from an NZTA adviser. Baker refused.
The planner sent Baker a formal letter on January 24, asking him to remove the offending signs within 14 days.
In early March, the planner sent an abatement notice requesting again, that Baker remove the signs, as they had not been removed. Baker refused.
A $750 fine for infringing the abatement notice was then issued in early March.
Baker said he wasn’t trying to break the law or the rules.
‘‘We’re just trying to encourage tourism in Turangi,’’ he said.
‘‘Tourists used to call in all the time, particularly cyclists, asking where the Tongariro River track was.
‘‘When you’re coming into Turangi, there are no signs pointing them in right direction.’’
Baker said the lack of ‘‘reasonable consultation’’ was unacceptable and he did not plan to pay the fine.
‘‘At some point you’ve got to say, ‘we’ve had enough, get stuffed’.’’