Councillor quiet on $4k sandcastle trip

File photo / Coastal News

A Christchurch city councillor is keeping her head below the parapet after taking a $4000 ratepayer funded trip to California to study sandcastles.

Gail Sheriff has returned from Imperial Beach, 24km south of San Diego, where she experienced first-hand the "US Open Sandcastle Competition" over two days.

Yesterday she was not responding to repeated inquiries about her trip from media after it was revealed her $3958 trip was paid from a ratepayer-funded training pot. Each councillor is entitled to spend up to $4000 annually from the discretionary fund.

Council chief executive Tony Marryatt and Mayor Bob Parker approved the trip, but Mr Parker said he would not comment until he had spoken to Mrs Sheriff today.

Before she left Mrs Sheriff told US newspapers she wanted to get ideas and inspiration for a similar event, Sandcastles Down Under, over three days from March 4 next year at Christchurch's Pegasus Beach.

- NZPA