Wellington City Council to remove unauthorised transgender flag pedestrian crossing

• A new rainbow crossing has appeared in the capital, but the Wellington City Council says it’s not responsible.
• The council will remove the Berhampore pedestrian crossing painted in the colours of the transgender flag, calling it “guerilla art”.
• Locals have celebrated the artwork on social media, but the council cited “non-compliance with safety requirements for pedestrian crossings” as the reason for removal.

The Wellington City Council says it will remove a pedestrian crossing painted in the colours of the transgender flag which appeared in Berhampore overnight.

A post on a community Facebook page shows road cones surrounding the centre of a pedestrian crossing painted with light blue, pink and white lines.

Many locals celebrated the new road markings, with one commenting “this is awesome to see”, and others writing “love it” and “this is beautiful”.

A photo of the transgender flag painted crossing was posted to a local community Facebook page, with many celebrating the artwork. Photo / Facebook

However, the crossing is not the work of the city council, which in 2018 painted a large rainbow crossing on Cuba St in the CBD in a quest for the capital to be “more deliberately LGBTQI-friendly”.

That crossing is now at the centre of legal action, with a judicial review hearing held in the High Court last month questioning whether it meets safety requirements.

A council spokeswoman said the new crossing appeared to be “a piece of guerilla art” and said it would be removed.

The safety of the Cuba St rainbow crossing was questioned at the High Court in Wellington last month. Photo / Georgina Campbell

“Wellington City Council is a proud supporter of the queer community and the Pride festival. This particular street artwork, however, is non-compliant with the strict safety requirements needed for pedestrian crossings.

“We encourage the public to contact council and follow proper processes if they are interested in installing artwork around the city – temporary or otherwise.”

Council staff were yet to take a close look at the new crossing art, with the spokeswoman saying they will make a call to deal with it after they do so.

“It could involve water blasting or some other process, but our intention is to remove the trans colours.”

A spokesperson for Wellington Pride Festival said it is “pretty cool to see but we don’t know who’s behind it”.

The pride festival starts this week, with events running from March 7 to 23.

Ethan Manera is a multimedia journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 and is interested in local issues, politics and property in the capital. Ethan is always on the lookout for a story and can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.