War veterans are calling on politicians to stop sniping over a World War I centenary memorial in Auckland Domain and come up with a new simple and reflective design.
A political battle has erupted over the memorial with the designers walking off the job and salvos being exchanged between Mayor Phil Goff, councillor Mike Lee and senior officers.
It is also placing Auckland's showpiece for next year's 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War in jeopardy.
Our position is it should be as simple as possible and there should be some sort of visual sightline connection to the museum
Vietnam war veteran and Auckland RSA president Graham Gibson has told the warring parties to take a deep breath to avoid a "bloody disaster".
Gibson is also vice-chairman of Fields of Remembrance Trust, whose plans for next year's Armistice commemorations include placing 18,277 personalised crosses on the grass hill in front of the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
It's on this hillside that the Auckland Domain committee, chaired by Lee, and Wraight Athfield Landscape and Architecture fell out over the memorial, leading to council chief executive Stephen Town asking Goff to use his powers to take the project off Lee's committee.
Council officers are now scrambling to put together a new design, with landscape experts, Boffa Miskell, and Stephen Brown in conjunction with council heritage expert George Farrant, in the mix.
Fields of Remembrance Trust chairman David McGregor, a barrister with 24 years in the Territorial Army, said he was aware "shit has gone down" between officers and politicians and moves are afoot to bring in other consultants to more or less start again.
McGregor said he had tried to steer a neutral course on the memorial, but after moving next to the Domain and seeing how much it is used it re-emphasised his position of not cluttering the hillside up.
"Our position is it should be as simple as possible and there should be some sort of visual sightline connection to the museum," he said.
Gibson said more thought had to go into the pathway connecting the memorial and the museum, a major sticking point between the Domain committee and Wraight Athfield.
He was not too fussed if the project was completed in time for Armistice Day next year, but it is understood council officers are keen to meet the deadline.
The committee supported a simple pathway on the central axis with the museum, whereas Wraight Athfield wanted a 42m wide design with concrete "transitions" at the top and bottom, raising the cost from $2.3million to $4.6m.
Gibson said Lee was very passionate about ensuring the project was done right, but other people, speaking off the record, have accused Lee of getting too involved in the details of the project and being abrasive.
Lee said he had acted in a professional way and the Domain committee had always come to a common position.
Town attended an extraordinary meeting of the Domain committee last night, where it is understood he was reminded the committee had resolved to request a simplified design on April 12, but management had failed to forward the request to the governing body for a decision.
The Herald asked Town if it was correct management had not complied with the committee's request, but not received a reply replied by the time of publication.
Goff, who said it was "utterly unacceptable that the project should have ground to a halt", is considering the request from Town use his power to take the project off the Domain committee and go to the governing body for resolution.
