Election signs on a Hastings District Council property have had to be removed after an accident involving a child last week. Photo / Warren Buckland
Election signs on a Hastings District Council property have had to be removed after an accident involving a child last week. Photo / Warren Buckland
A child on a bike was injured after hitting one of a number of election signs which inadvertently breached Hastings District Council's District Plan. However, Regional Council candidate Rick Barker, the third of three candidates to put his sign on the berm in Havelock North, says he directly askedthe council before doing so.
"I was unsure exactly who owned the property so I rang the council ... and I described to them with particularity about where the spot was and the fact that there were five signs already on that area of land and asked if I could put my sign on there as well.
Barker says the council said: "they were aware of the place, they knew exactly what I was talking about, they assured me that it was not their property and as far as the council was concerned I was free to put the sign up".
The signs had been up for about six weeks, despite District Plan rules stating they must be "wholly" on private property and not on public places, including berms.
A Hastings District Council spokeswoman said they were informed late on Thursday, September 5.
"On Friday morning, council staff went to check the site and confirmed it was not compliant with the District Plan. All sign owners were contacted on Friday morning and asked to remove the signs immediately," she said.
Election signs around Havelock North. Photo / Warren Buckland
There were six signs in the location and six sign owners were asked to remove them, which they did.
They included signs for Hawke's Bay Arts Festival, Hawke's Bay Home and Garden Show and Spring Racing Carnival and election 2019 candidates Barker, Eileen Lawson (Hastings District Council) and Craig Foss (Hawke's Bay Regional Council).
When contacted by Hawke's Bay Today, Lawson said she got permission from the owners of the building and "assumed" her sign was on the boundary and was erected so it was "out of harm's way".
"However, other signs went up after mine which clearly were on road reserve. Obviously I'm concerned for the safety of our children and all our citizens."
Foss said he had received permission from the owners of the building. "We had ours right back and we thought it was their area but the council said no, actually that's council land."
He said the HDC requested the signs were taken down "ASAP".
HDC followed up with an email thanking candidates for the sign removal and a photo showing the council boundary.
In the email sent to candidates, Electoral Officer Jackie Evans said: "Individual candidates are responsible for the safety of their campaign hoardings."
"Make sure that all your signs are fixed securely and that pegs and hoardings are not a trip or fall hazard, particularly for the signs that are on unenclosed land adjacent to cycle and footpaths," she said in the email.
"As a courtesy, they informed the council after the incident happened."
Election signs are not to be erected on state highways, roads, road reserves (eg the berm), parks, reserves or any other public places.
Any sign erected on any public place will be impounded and can only be recovered on payment of a $60 fee.
The spokeswoman said: "We cannot possibly police all the signs in this huge district for compliancy.
"If an officer sees a non-compliant sign or if we receive a complaint we will investigate as soon as possible."
She said the council had had issues with candidates putting campaign billboards in places that were non-compliant and when this was brought to the council's attention the sign owners were informed and asked to rectify the situation.
They are not investigating the breach as the signs have been removed.
