Smiley face goes to consultation

Residents of the Broadmeadows area will be asked whether they favour a large smiley face being painted on Ngauranga water reservoir, says Wellington Regional Council.

The Council’s Utility Services Committee confirmed on Tuesday that it would give residents in the immediate vicinity of the reservoir a direct say, via a consultation process, in whether the mural should be painted. The decision comes after support for this approach from Wellington City Council.

Utility Services Committee Chairman Dick Werry said local support for the proposed mural would have to be clearly demonstrated.

“The smiley face would certainly be a talking point, particularly for visitors to Wellington who arrive by air, but we must have regard primarily for the wishes of those who will be faced with it every day. The consultation will have to show firm support from the surrounding community if the mural is to proceed.”

The consultation is being planned for early February 2003, to avoid Christmas and the traditional January holiday period, and will involve a short postal questionnaire to approximately 600 residential properties in the vicinity of the reservoir. Results from the consultation will be given to regional councillors at the earliest opportunity for a decision on whether to allow the mural to be painted. Wellington Regional Council will manage the consultation, with costs met by the mural’s proposer.

The proposal, a private initiative, is for a smiley face of approximately 60 metres in diameter (2,700 square metres in area) to be painted on the top of Wellington Regional Council’s Ngauranga water reservoir (Maldive Street, Khandallah). The reservoir is on a flight path to Wellington airport and would be visible from passing aircraft. The mural’s proposer, not the Council, would meet the cost of painting and maintaining the mural.

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