Finding exclusive beds gets easier

By ROSALEEN MacBRAYNE

Tauranga luxury lodge owner Reg Turner is celebrating change by Transit New Zealand which will allow country retreats like his to be named on highway signposts.

Until now, directions to accommodation off the beaten track have consisted of generic signs such as lodge, B&B or farmstay.

Such directions were useless, said Mr Turner, who has spent nine years battling bureaucracy over the issue.

"After all, do you see signs with just the word 'town'?"

Transit NZ spokeswoman Deborah Willett said the nationwide road sign policy had been changed this month. It seemed inconsistent that wineries were allowed to be named, but lodges were not.

Said Mr Turner: "This is the most significant sensible signage change for the benefit of tourists in my 30 years in the industry. I have been a man with a mission. Now it has succeeded, I'm thrilled."

Mr Turner, who established Solitaire Lodge at Lake Tarawera near Rotorua in 1974, said the change would solve the problem of motorists finding remote accommodation facilities.

But the change does not apply to signs on roads under the jurisdiction of local authorities.

Mr Turner's campaign started when, after running Solitaire Lodge successfully for 20 years, he moved to Pyes Pa, between Tauranga and Rotorua, where he upgraded and extended a classic colonial villa.

Cassimir Lodge is set in 20ha of gardens, native bush and farmland and offers sweeping views to the Kaimai Ranges and Coromandel.

When he put up signs at three critical junctions, Mr Turner got into trouble. The Western Bay of Plenty District Council removed one and taped over the others, claiming it was guided by Transit's policy which prohibited road signs carrying trading names.

Mr Turner pressed the district council and the courts to have Cassimir Lodge put on signposts because guests had trouble finding the place.

After numerous council meetings and five Environment Court hearings, he lost and was ordered to pay costs to the council.

When Mr Turner failed to come up with the money - which had ballooned to $14,000 - Western Bay council went to the High Court, which made a bankruptcy order against him.

Then, "at the 11th minute," the lodge owner paid up and the order was withdrawn.

Mr Turner kept up the pressure and three years ago, Transit gave permission for one Cassimir Lodge sign.

He said that over the years, he had dealt with four Tourism Ministers and four Ministers of Transport. He had also accumulated two "wine boxes" full of correspondence.