"I doubt very much the majority of Whangarei people had any idea that building a folly was part of the Hundertwasser deal, buried as it was in the bowels of the project's paperwork. Another example of 'the devil's in the detail' with this project," she said.
"I won't be attending this clod turning. I'd rather stay home and stick hot pins in my eyes."
Ms Cutforth said the folly would take up the majority of the green space at one end of the Town Basin.
She also questioned whether the trusts involved - Prosper Northland and Whangarei Art Museum - would have enough to underwrite any shortfall from the museum as they had promised, and said future generations would be left to pick up the cost.
HAC project team leader Andrew Garratt said the footprint of green space taken up by Te Kakano would be offset "many times over" by the publicly accessible tree-clad and grassed roof on the main art centre.
Te Kakano would contain seating and be a publicly accessible space.
He described his project team as "wonderful volunteers ranging from their 30s to their 90s".
"Some volunteers are putting 40-plus hours a week into this project," Mr Garratt said.
"One of the underlying motives for a lot of our volunteers is that of securing a better future for the kids."
He said Prosper Northland Trust had come up with the idea of an underwrite and was working to secure it.
