Nominations are in, voting papers will soon be mailed out, and the Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) local body elections are well underway. 

Campaigning has also kicked off, and campaign signage has popped up in busy areas around the Upper Clutha. 

Candidates can put significant amounts of money into their campaigning efforts - the campaign spending limits for a potential Wānaka Community Board (WCB) member or councillor is $14,000.

For a mayoral candidate, it is a whopping $30,000.

A few of the usual joke signs have also appeared, as well as one for a candidate taking a different approach.

Candidates also experience a crash-course in all things campaign advertising: As well as spending limits, there are a range of rules and regulations for what any candidate advertising must include, and how different platforms can be deployed.

Election signage is a perennially popular choice for candidates and there’s a reason there are clusters of signage in just a few locations around town.

In the Upper Clutha, there are just four approved council sites for campaign signage - Cardrona Valley Road road reserve opposite the retirement village, the showgrounds corner (corner of McDougall and Mt Aspiring Roads), the two road reserves at the corner of Beacon Point Road and Plantation Road, and the road reserve by the Department of Conservation land down from the Anderson Road roundabout. 

Signage can also be placed on any residential or business-zoned land, but candidates would have to gain permission from landowners in order to place them, and candidates can also install election signage on state highways but there are some hoops to be jumped through. 

Any election signage cannot exceed three metres squared.

Election campaigning can begin at any time and can continue up to and including election day, however all election signs need to be taken down the day before the election.

PHOTO: Wānaka App