Headway on Napier War Memorial next year

PUT IT RIGHT: When a new memorial is installed at the Floral Clock, it will be relocated to the sunken gardens. Photo / File

Work on "putting right" the Napier War Memorial will not progress until next year.

The memorial had been involved in a months-long emotional saga, after the Napier City Council agreed to remove commemorative items from the Napier Conference Centre during its multi-million dollar redevelopment.

These were to be installed in a "more appropriate location" but this plan was not widely known by the public.

In September the council unanimously agreed to reinstall the memorial items at the Floral Clock Site, and to consult with the community on the process - including memorial design concepts, the roll of honour plaques and the building's name.

The next step in the process was for council staff to report back with detailed design concepts and project costs for the war memorial, and that original architect Guy Natusch be consulted on the design.

However, with council's "heavy programme of work" currently, it was planning to progress the war memorial next year, a council spokeswoman said.

"We are still doing background work on the site itself and space requirements. No decision yet on who will be designing."

Napier Mayor Bill Dalton said work was progressing on the memorial with staff looking at possible plans and designs, "but it's a big job, and we want to get it absolutely right".

"We want to get this right, we want to have something that the people of Napier are proud of and...that is significant in terms of the true meaning of the war memorial."

"We're not going to rush it and get it wrong, people are very quick to criticise when we do get it wrong, let's get it right".

He added their staff were currently "under huge pressure" as council services moved from their former earthquake-prone offices.

When designs have been completed they will be consulted on, as will the building's name, and how to incorporate the roll of honour plaques into the new memorial.

It had been discovered a number of soldiers' names were missing from the roll of honour. The existing 600 names were originally compiled using casualty lists reported from 1942, and the roll was updated in 1995.

About $50,000 had been allocated for the relocation of the war memorial. Additional funding would be allocated to the project once design concepts and project costs were completed.