Masterton Mayor Garry Daniell has challenged a call to build a replica clock tower in the Masterton town square now under construction.
Mr Daniell said the proposed clock tower, according to Masterton resident Jim O'Dowd, would feature the four restored faces, mechanism and bells that were salvaged from the Masterton Post Office built in 1900.
Mr Daniell had helped finance the restoration of the clock parts, alongside a small community grant, and had seven years ago proposed the siting of a replica clock tower featuring the salvaged parts at the roundabout at the northern approach to the town.
Mr O'Dowd says in a letter to the editor of the Wairarapa Times-Age the clock tower would be for visitors' benefit only and a dangerous distraction for drivers at the roundabout site and would be best sited at the town square site "for all to enjoy, residents and visitors alike".
Construction of the $660,000 Masterton town square and adjoining car park started last month at the former council car park and green space site bordering stretches of Perry, Cole and Chapel streets between the Masterton Town Hall and Wairarapa Times-Age building.