It has developed into a kind of Kafkaesque nightmare which challenges those involved to make sense of seemingly incomprehensible bureaucracy and bizarrely circuitous advice.
Not the latest psychological horror filmed in Taupō, but the current to-do with business signs in Tūrangi.
It all started, according to an email to Mayor David Trewavas from Taupō District Councillor Sandra Greenslade (Tūrangi-Tongariro ward) when a business owner who had been asked to remove his signs from Pihanga Rd went out and identified every sign in Tūrangi that didn’t comply.
“I’m predicting a riot amongst Tūrangi businesses fairly soon if council staff don’t find a pragmatic solution that allows our businesses to advertise. We are a small, isolated town 50km from anywhere and we value our businesspeople who let’s face it, do business in a difficult environment every day,” says Greenslade in the email.
