Lucia Alonso Gonzalez/LDR
Nelson Mayor Nick Smith visited the Centre of New Zealand after seeing the Facebook post about their condition and agreed that “they need an upgrade”.
Decrepit signs at the ‘Centre of New Zealand’ monument in Nelson will get a refresh after a complaint about their “shabby” state.
A frequent visitor to the famous hilltop monument, Lucia Alonso Gonzalez, found the signs bleached by the sun with names scratched into them.
Alonso Gonzalez said the signs shouldn’t be left in a “shabby” state as it’s a popular destination for visitors to the city.
“I like to do things that work, and I found that if you bring attention [to issues] with a lot of people, things get done,” she said.
So she posted about the signs on a local community Facebook page, but added she didn’t want to “look like a disgruntled member of the public”.
“If you keep things clean and pretty then people tend to keep them clean and pretty.”
Her Facebook post worked, first attracting the attention of the Nelson City Council Facebook account and then Mayor Nick Smith.
“Ran up there [last Tuesday] after work to check it out after reading [the] page,” Smith commented. “A fair critique and will follow up. It is a popular spot, and they need upgrade.”
A new printed sticker will be installed within the sign’s casing before Christmas at a likely cost of less than $1000, confirmed Andrew White, Nelson council’s group manager community services.
The signs were last renewed in 2019 and had been identified as in need of a refresh. Some information had also become outdated since their first installation in 2014.
“Council was hoping to redesign the panels completely, however, this work has been deferred while staff prioritise recovery work from the severe weather of August 2022,” White said.
Nelson boasts the ‘Centre of New Zealand’ atop Botanical Hill, on the eastern edge of the city centre. It was named after being found as the central survey point in the 1800s.
However, the city does have competition for the title.
In 2019, GNS Science placed a plaque in the Tararua Ranges, 11 kilometres northwest of Greytown, marking it as the centre of New Zealand’s extended continent shelf.
