Wellywood sign protest grows

Photo / Supplied

Protesters outraged by plans to erect a giant 'Wellywood' sign are promising to "blockade" Wellington Airport tonight.

Wellington Airport is funding the 30m long, 8m tall Wellywood sign which mimics the iconic Hollywood sign in Los Angeles.

Despite thousands of locals expressing their dislike of the idea through social media sites such as Facebook, Wellington Airport CEO Steve Fitzgerald says the sign will go ahead regardless.

He says public consultation about the sign has dragged out for a year, and in the end, 'Wellywood' was deemed the most suitable slogan.

"The sign's definitely going ahead.

"We've spent over a year considering the options and the feedback and the feedback this time is similar to the feedback last time," he says.

This morning more than 14,400 people liked the Facebook group "Wellingtonians Against the Wellywood Sign", while others voiced their disdain on Twitter and other websites.

Many users described the sign as tacky, a waste of money and a likely target for vandalism.

The Facebook group "Driving Protest at Wellington Airport: NO WELLYWOOD SIGN!" plans to protest the sign by staging a "slow-moving vehicle blockade" around the airport's drop off area between 6pm and 7pm today.

So far 110 people say they are attending the protest, which plans to "seriously disrupt the airport's operations".

Meanwhile, another Facebook event group called 'Burn the Wellywood sign' had attracted more than 2000 attendees by mid-morning.

Organisers said on the group's wall, "Please note: We do not plan to actually 'burn' the sign, rather burn the idea of the sign! We need to stop this tackfest sign from being erected!"

The airport would not comment last night on the vocal opposition to its plan, but a spokeswoman said they would reconsider the position next week.

The structure has already received resource consent and was expected to be erected on an area of the Miramar hillside, owned by Wellington Airport, in June.

The company gave no indication of just how soon the sign will be hoisted up the hillside, its colour or how much it will cost.

- NZPA