Artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser's work to mitigate the ugliness of industry was groundbreaking, writes Mark Story. Photo / Supplied
Would I want an unsightly cellphone tower outside my house?
Nope.
Could I give you an unselfish reason why?
Nope.
Still, good on the Havelock North anti-tower fraternity for keeping Spark honest about its proposal to erect a new tower in the leafy suburb.
The fervent opposition of spokesman Stephen Fookes and his lobby forced the telecommunications company to consider other sites, provide rationale, allay safety concerns and ultimately, suspend construction.
Passions even extended to a physical altercation at the controversial berm on Te Mata Rd.
But that's the end of my praise.
Not once in the three year, drawn-out and poorly articulated battle have we heard a sound reason why the tower shouldn't be on this site. This is why the lobby's had scant traction.
Spark has repeatedly confirmed it had investigated seven other potential spots, but analysis proved none would increase capacity.
The best the opposition could do this week, after confirming they'd lawyered up, was to repeat that folk were miffed at the "deviousness" of it all. "People are angry about it in principle. They have moral and ethical concerns about the tower," Fookes said.
So where's the why? Their concerns continue to remain under wraps.
The one argument Spark will never win is the aesthetic. The towers are Orwellian ugly. And here's where it'd be nice to see the company (and/or Hastings District Council) splash some cash to mitigate the unfortunate 13.5m vertical gaze.
We commission artists to adorn our suburbs' power boxes and to paint murals on civic walls, why not do something creative to diminish the visual pollution of the now ubiquitous towers?
Inspiration can be found in the planted up and decorated European buildings of the late Austrian-born New Zealand architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser, works which remain pieces of wonder to this day.
Who wouldn't love to see what Havelock's globally-celebrated designer David Trubridge can come up with?
Sadly the boorish histrionics down at the berm have done little more than galvanise the clumsy (albeit widespread) stereotype that the suburb is partial to petulance.
If cellphones are a necessary imposition in modern life, so too is their infrastructure.
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