Louise van der Voort, Central Otago District Council planning manager, was quoted as saying (ODT, 6.8.09) "The problem with Oamaru stone is the colour it is."
She stated that "the community" (numberless, it seems) found it "highly reflective", a quality not apparent in the proposal to have it excluded as a building material in rural homes.
North Otago has been proud to have exported tons of this stone for at least 150 years and now "the community" has determined it an eyesore.
However, in an effort to bridge this aesthetic difference with our friends over the hill, attached as they seem to less intrusive constructions like windmills, I propose research to discover something blander than natural stone or perhaps genetically modifying current marine life to produce alternative colours, but there will be a wait.
The task will be made difficult in that no-one wants to create panic among those of us over here who consider limestone in our landscape as being pleasing to the eye.
If the Central Otago council's proposed regulation catches on in North Otago - and we know these things to be contagious between administrators - our own district council may demand its widespread removal.
The only group delighted about this will be the "Flat Earth Society".
Cliff Browne
Oamaru [Abridged]
This week's winner, Cliff Browne, receives a copy of Judith Cullen's Dinner in a Basket, Longacre Press, $39.99.
