Group wants to restore gun sites

A group aims to remove unsightly graffiti from the Harington Point gun emplacements, which it says detracts from the first view cruise ship passengers have of the Otago Harbour.

The graffiti on the Otago Peninsula emplacements was "not a great advertisement for the city" at the entry point for tourists coming to Dunedin by sea, Otago Peninsula Community Board chairman Paul Pope said.

A member of the group, Dunedin military historian Peter Trevathan, outlined the group's aims in a public forum before the board's January meeting.

About a dozen gun emplacements and related defensive facilities were built and equipped with guns in the 1880s, at Harington Point and Taiaroa Head, to counter fears of a possible invasion by huge Tsarist Russian warships.

The restoration project was to "restore the gun emplacements and tunnels" which had been "badly affected by graffiti, overgrown vegetation and rubbish".

The restoration would take two to three years, and Mr Trevathan wanted to encourage tourists and locals to visit this "historic site".

The board voted to support the proposed "restoration venture" in principle.

He said the emplacements were "an important part of Dunedin's history, and New Zealand history", having also been used during World War 1 and World War 2.

He wanted the graffiti, rubbish and overgrown vegetation removed, and information panels added.

Board member Lox Kellas, who represents the board in the group, said the restoration project was "a great idea".

It was "not a very nice welcome" for visitors to see "all that graffiti", he added.