During the public forum of the last Waikouaiti Coast Community Board meeting, owners the O’Connell family and neighbour Roger Wyeth spoke to the board regarding the state of the site on Coast Rd.
Mr Wyeth said the much-admired lookout was first made available to the public by the O’Connell family in the 1970s.
Mr Wyeth is the neighbour of the O’Connells and on their behalf spoke to the board about the state of the site.
"This place needs some attention."
Denis O'Connell said his parents originally allowed public access to the lookout on the proviso that a fence and car park were established and would be maintained.
The agreement pre-dated the amalgamation of local authorities into the Dunedin City Council and instead would have been with the Silverpeaks County Council, Mr O’Connell said.
He was not sure if there was an agreement in writing or if it was simply a verbal understanding.
Mr O’Connell said he would like to see a new fence erected with a top rail, resealing of the car park, and the emptying of a rubbish container every day.
Waikouaiti Coast Community Board chairman Alasdair Morrison agreed the lookout was looking rather tired and shabby at the moment.
"It is one of the great photography spots in the whole of the South Island."
Mr Morrison said some people may have assumed the lookout belonged to the council.
"We are going to have a detailed look at what we can do about this."
He would also have a discussion with the Puketeraki runaka regarding a plaque at the site
"The brass plaque is faded, it is pretty shabby and it might want to be updated."
Mr Wyeth also spoke to the board regarding a large sign called Bluey the Whale that used to be at the lookout.
The sign was named Bluey by his daughter and a school friend in 1990 but Mr Wyeth did not know how it came to be moved from the lookout and now was at the entrance to Karitane.
A second Bluey the Whale sign had apparently been taken and was in a flat in Dunedin, he said.
Mr Wyeth also said a small sign advertising Karitane on the side of the road leaving Waikouaiti heading south needed "serious attention" because it was old and hard to spot.
