Old Rotorua Central Mall roof sits near Kauae cemetery on State Highway 5 for years

An old roof in a paddock alongside a major highway into Rotorua has been described as an “eyesore” and an “abscess” by a resident who believes it gives tourists a bad first impression.

But the trust responsible for it says it will not be there much longer.

The wooden structure - a roof and tower - was once the entrance to the Rotorua Central Mall.

Ngongotahā resident Owen Campbell said he believed it was placed in the paddock in about 2015 after the Pukeroa Oruawhata Trust redeveloped the mall.

He said it was covered in graffiti and often surrounded by rubbish and he was concerned about the impression it gave tourists to Rotorua who would see what he believed was a “mess” as they arrived driving from State Highway 5 to Ngongotahā Rd.

In his view: “They [visitors] see this abscess that’s allowed to sit there and fester and get covered in graffiti and rubbish.”

He drove past the building about twice a week and said the rubbish appeared to accumulate on a “weekly basis” at the site.

He was “angered” about its appearance to new visitors and was concerned it had been placed opposite the Kauae Cemetery.

Resident Owen Campbell believes the dumped building is an "eyesore" to Rotorua. Photo / Andrew Warner

Campbell said the trust had done a “fabulous” job at refurbishing the mall but he believed the remnants of the old entrance needed to be removed.

In his opinion: “Whoever is responsible, it should be high time they cleaned it up.”

A Pukeroa Oruawhata Trust spokesperson said the roof had been requested by a community group for use in a “future project” after the mall refurbishment.

It was moved to the privately owned land in the meantime.

The old Rotorua Central Mall roof sits opposite Kauae cemetery on State Highway 5 and Ngongotahā Rd, a tourist gateway to the city. Photo / Andrew Warner

The spokesperson said the roof appeared a “little worse for wear” and agreed it was “not the right look for one of the main entrances for Rotorua”.

The trust was planning to deconstruct or remove the building in the “next few months”.

Pukeroa Oruawhata Trust chairman Malcolm Short said the owner of the land where the structure was stored did not want to comment and the trust would be moving the structure to another area in the near future.

The roof at the entrance to Rotorua Central in 2008, before it was removed as part of the redevelopment of the mall. Photo / File

Rotorua Lakes councillor Trevor Maxwell, who was made the city’s cultural ambassador since 2013, said he had “every confidence” in the trust to solve the issue but it was “up to them to make the call”.

Maxwell said, in his view, a simple tarpaulin would “solve it”.

He said State Highway 5 was a “gateway into our city” and the council had done “wonderful work on the Kauae cemetery” to improve its appearance.

“It would all help to make a [positive] entrance and gateway into our beautiful city.”

Rotorua MP Todd McClay. Photo / Andrew Warner

Rotorua MP Todd McClay, whose office Campbell emailed about the structure in July, said the perception of visitors needed to be considered.

McClay, the National Party’s tourism spokesman, said there were “lots of things we could think about to improve” in the city.

RotoruaNZ chief executive Andrew Wilson said the tourism and economic development agency was “truly proud of how our region presents itself to our manuhiri [visitors]”.

RotoruaNZ chief executive Andrew Wilson. Photo / Andrew Warner

Wilson said it received a lot of feedback from tourists about the “natural beauty of our lakes region, the exceedingly high quality of our city gardens, and most notably – about the wonderful way in which our people welcome and host them”.

He said people in the region were “blessed to live in such a beautiful and unique part of the world and while not perfect, we are pretty awesome”.

Rotorua Lakes Council and tourism businesses in the Ngongotahā area were approached for comment.

Michaela Pointon is an NZME reporter based in the Bay of Plenty and was formerly a feature writer.