The Wānaka Upper Clutha Community Board (WUCCB) is still trying to understand Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) staff’s plan to install more than 40 safety signs along Hāwea’s scenic Gladstone Track - and perhaps many more around the district. 

Installation of the bright orange, A3 size signs on 2.4m high posts was paused in October at the request of board members following community backlash over the first of the signs.

At yesterday’s WUCCB meeting, Hāwea Community Association member John Taylor asked the board why the signs were needed and why the community hadn’t been consulted.

WUCCB member John Wellington said the board was still trying to get to the bottom of the “inappropriate level of signage”.

If the 41 signs were to be installed along the 6km track, there would be a sign “every 300m or so,” he said.

“I’ve been involved in creating tracks in the community for 16 years and this is, I think, totally over the top and unnecessary for this location.”

In speaking with council staff, John said he had first been told that the signs were a Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) requirement, though the track is not a MBIE track.

He was then told they were a Department of Conservation (DOC) requirement, but he could not find any evidence the signs were mandatory.

“We really do need to understand where this has come from and whether it’s really necessary,” he said.

John said he was also concerned about a possible wider roll-out.

“I can’t imagine how many signs there would be between here and Glendhu Bay,” he said. “You’d be tripping over them.”

WUCCB Simon Telfer said the issue was “front of mind” for board members and councillors who were still in conversations with staff about the signs.

For now, the installation of the signs along Gladstone Track is still ‘paused’.

PHOTO: Supplied