Eyesore of dumped old mall entrance sits on the side of the road in a paddock. It's between Rotorua and Ngongotaha and it's gathering graffiti. Resident Owen Campbell says he's been complaining about it since July.
An old roof in a paddock alongside a major highway into Rotorua has been described as an “eyesore” and an “abscess” by a resident who believes it gives tourists a bad first impression.
But the trust responsible for it says it will not be there much longer.
He said it was covered in graffiti and often surrounded by rubbish and he was concerned about the impression it gave tourists to Rotorua who would see what he believed was a “mess” as they arrived driving from State Highway 5 to Ngongotahā Rd.
Resident Owen Campbell believes the dumped building is an "eyesore" to Rotorua. Photo / Andrew Warner
Campbell said the trust had done a “fabulous” job at refurbishing the mall but he believed the remnants of the old entrance needed to be removed.
In his opinion: “Whoever is responsible, it should be high time theycleaned it up.”
A Pukeroa Oruawhata Trust spokesperson said the roof had been requested by a community group for use in a “future project” after the mall refurbishment.
It was moved to the privately owned land in the meantime.
The old Rotorua Central Mall roof sits opposite Kauae cemetery on State Highway 5 and Ngongotahā Rd, a tourist gateway to the city. Photo / Andrew Warner
The spokesperson said the roof appeared a “little worse for wear” and agreed it was “not the right look for one of the main entrances for Rotorua”.
The trust was planning to deconstruct or remove the building in the “next few months”.
Pukeroa Oruawhata Trust chairman Malcolm Short said the owner of the land where the structure was stored did not want to comment and the trust would be moving the structure to another area in the near future.
The roof at the entrance to Rotorua Central in 2008, before it was removed as part of the redevelopment of the mall. Photo / File
“It would all help to make a [positive] entrance and gateway into our beautiful city.”
Rotorua MP Todd McClay. Photo / Andrew Warner
Rotorua MP Todd McClay, whose office Campbell emailed about the structure in July, said the perception of visitors needed to be considered.
McClay, the National Party’s tourism spokesman, said there were “lots of things we could think about to improve” in the city.
RotoruaNZ chief executive Andrew Wilson said the tourism and economic development agency was “truly proud of how our region presents itself to our manuhiri [visitors]”.
RotoruaNZ chief executive Andrew Wilson. Photo / Andrew Warner
Wilson said it received a lot of feedback from tourists about the “natural beauty of our lakes region, the exceedingly high quality of our city gardens, and most notably – about the wonderful way in which our people welcome and host them”.
He said people in the region were “blessed to live in such a beautiful and unique part of the world and while not perfect, we are pretty awesome”.
