Board tightens its purse strings

The Lawrence-Tuapeka Community Board began the new year in a frugal mood on Wednesday, turning down two requests for funding and deciding against spending about $12,000 on artistic works in the main street of Lawrence.

Having previously approved a budget of up to $20,000 for three murals planned for Ross Pl, as part of its streetscape upgrade project, the board decided not to proceed with two.

The plans had been out for public consultation over the holiday period and board member Roger Cotton said he had received a lot of feedback - "all negative".

But Rowena Paterson said that while she had heard some were against the murals, she felt people were "easy osy" about them.

After a debate, the board voted 4-3 (four men versus three women) not to have a large mural, depicting a group of gold miners, painted on the wall of the former Wrightson NMA building in Ross Pl, now occupied by Tuapeka Gold Print. It would have cost more than $8000. Tuapeka Gold Print was prepared to contribute an extra $1250.

The board also decided, unanimously this time, not to spend $3650 to paint a mural of a pioneer cottage on the wall of the public toilets directly behind the statue of Gabriel Read. Instead, it was decided the area around the statue would be beautified with tussock planting.

A third main-street project did get the thumbs up, however, with the board deciding to spend about $1000 to have the large Lawrence "Gateway to Central Otago" sign, said to be in a "state of disrepair", repainted by artist Doug Ayson. He will retain the original facade.

A plea by Kim "Dusty" Murtagh on behalf of a charitable trust for financial support from the board for a planned "Daffodil Dayze" event at Wetherstons on September 25 this year was turned down, but with a request for more information.

Ms Murtagh, who also appeared in the public forum to speak to her December 23 letter, said the Harts Daffodil Charitable Trust had secured partial funding from the 2011 Festival Lotteries Fund for inclusion in the Rugby World Cup's REAL NZ Festival. But this still left the trust with an $8000 shortfall.

Mr Cotton said while the trust had done a lot of good work, the board could not use ratepayer money to fund a private venture.

The board also declined a request for $539.70 from the Tuapeka Lawrence Community Company to pay for 30 pittosporums to be planted in containers on Ross Pl.

Cr Geoff Blackmore was critical of the request, saying there had been no consultation with the board before the plants were bought. Other board members felt pittosporums might not be appropriate for the main street, given the lack of colour and their height.