Vandal's suggestions correct history

CORRECTIONS: The defaced sign in front of the giant gum tree planted in 1856 in the St Luke's church grounds, Greytown. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

The vandal of a heritage sign in Greytown may have won the battle for historical integrity after the Greytown Community Trust made changes that were outlined in the 2013 vandalism.

The new Samuel Oates Gum Tree heritage sign, in the St Luke's church grounds, was unveiled by the trust on Saturday, hopefully putting an end to the issues surrounding the wording of the script.

The defacement of the sign was originally found in 2013 by trust committee member and author Tania Connelly.

The markings made by the unknown vandal outlined four corrections that should be made to the sign, including a revision on the number of seedlings that were brought to the town by Samuel Oates.

As a former archivist at the Otago Settlers Museum, Connelly acknowledged that difficulties were generally faced regarding heritage issues in small towns.

"It's not easy for such small places, beyond rates documents, there's not a lot," she said.

"It's quite understandable that someone wants to point this out but why don't they come to us instead of writing on the sign?"

Allan Farley, who wrote the new script for the sign, agrees there are more constructive ways to request changes on heritage signs.

"Yes, it is difficult to make corrections through formal processes as there is a certain system to follow," he said.

"However, there has recently been a change in leadership at the community trust committee.

"There's a new chairman who should bring about some good change."

There have already been a few heritage signs that have recently been replaced or corrected by the committee, to provide the community with more accurate historical accounts of the sites.

Mr Farley believes the history of small towns is mostly well documented.

In the case of the correction of the Samuel Oats Gum Tree sign, he says there were many accounts of the incident that were used to verify the corrections made by the vandal in 2013, including notes from Joseph Masters, who met Oates on his journey.

"Heritage signs should provide the truth but must also keep the information short, simple, and interesting," he said.

Allan's brother, Ian Farley, is a Greytown Community Heritage Trust Committee member and installed the new sign on Saturday.

"I think people in the community know that there are some glaring mistakes or misinterpretations on some heritage signs," he said.

Regarding the vandal who defaced the sign, he said "a friend of mine once said, "it'd be like a teacher breaking into a school kid's home and correcting their work".

While vandalism is not encouraged, it is acknowledged that the corrections have been made for the better of Greytown's historical integrity.