A PETITION supporting the reinstatement of the duck on Waipawa’s main
street was received by Central Hawkes Bay District Council recently.
A total of 369 people signed the petition that circulated Waipawa businesses
last month, but those opposed it and signed the petition were deliberately blanked
out.
Cr Terry Kingston said, “The petition does not state where on the main
street the duck has to go. It could go in Nellie Jull Park, at the pools or
in Madge Hunter Park by the skateboard ramp.
“I recommend that the duck be reinstated on the main street at no cost
to the council and at a site and style to be approved. “By this I mean
for example, it could go in Nellie Jull Park, with a play structure over it
for the kids to play on. I do not think it should be above the ground,”
he said. Cr Mark Williams seconded the recommendation.
Cr Michael Waite said, “I accept the duck has to go somewhere as there
is a strong feel for it. But don’t clutter Nellie Jull Park or the pools.
I approve of it going to Madge Park by the skate board ramp,” he said.
Mayor Tim Gilbertson agreed, “Councillor Waite made a good point but
I think we need more feedback from the community.”
NB. In this article it makes it sound like there were a lot of people who signed
this petition who were opposed to it, while in actual fact there were only two
or three and they did not sign their names or put in their phone numbers to
it but only wrote on it “No!” and “Never!”. While these
entries were removed from the petition it was hardly significant enough to even
get a mention in this article… but for some reason they did.
