Meet Paihia's quirky new characters adding colour to wharf

Some of the new bollards at the entrance to Paihia wharf. PHOTO / SUPPLIED

Five quirky, colourful characters have decided to make Paihia Wharf their home.

Good luck to anyone who wants to evict them - the town's newest residents double as bollards to stop vehicles driving on to the wharf and are designed to be as good as immovable.

The brightly painted figures were a Paihia Placemaking Project funded by community trust Focus Paihia and driven by local resident Katja Caulton.

Mrs Caulton said she got the idea during a Focus Paihia workshop when participants had to walk around town looking for things that could be made more beautiful without detracting from what was already there.

She decided to replace the five rather dull and functional bollards with carved characters representing Paihia. After much thought and discussion she settled on a fish, a fisherman, a wahine, a sailor and a diver.

Russell's Noel Wynyard was enlisted to carve the figures while Czech-born artist Darina Denali, also living in Russell, did the painting.

A team of volunteers led by Focus Paihia's Grant Harnish then took on the tricky job of removing the old bollards and installing the new ones. They are already proving a popular photo op for Paihia visitors.

Ms Denali also painted the mural on the nearby 35 Degrees South restaurant.