Ngongotaha says 'No' to lightning sculpture

Terry Stringer's White Lightning sculpture, described by petitioners as 'ugly', will not set foot in Ngongotaha as far as 570 residents are concerned. Photo / File

More than 500 people have signed a petition to keep the controversial White Lightning sculpture out of Ngongotaha township.

Petition organiser Ann Henderson said it took just two weeks to get 570 people to sign up and say they didn't want it moved to Ngongotaha.

In June, the the Rotorua District Council gave community group Progress Ngongotaha permission to look into repairing White Lightning with a view to re-siting it in Ngongotaha.

White Lightning, by Terry Stringer, was originally gifted to the people of Rotorua by the Rotorua Area Electricity Authority in 1987 and was sited in the centre of the city's CBD in the Tutanekai Mall.

It was removed during the redesign of the City Focus and finally moved to the Castlecorp yard on Vaughan Rd in 1997, where it has sat since.

Progress Ngongotaha chairwoman Lynn Benfell previously said the Railway Park had offered space for the sculpture while it was being fixed, and local artist Paul Nicolai had contacted the original artist in the hope he would help with its restoration.

Estimates suggest it could cost more than $15,000 to repair.

Mrs Henderson said the sculpture was "ugly".

"We got lots of people saying the same thing, that's a lot of people too and our Maori community were up in arms - they certainly don't want it here."

Mrs Henderson said she had not heard anything more from Progress Ngongotaha and their plans for the sculpture.

"But we will make sure it doesn't get put up here in Ngongotaha. It was never popular when it was in town and we don't want that old rubbish here," she said.

It is still not known what Progress Ngongotaha want to do with the sculpture, if anything.

Mrs Benfell did not respond to requests from the Rotorua Daily Post for further information or comment.