WHAT is it about Wanganui? Whenever something good happens to the town, there's someone with a finger hovering over the "self-destruct" button.
Take the Artists' Open Studios during the past two weekends - a huge event recognised nationwide and a primary source of visitor revenue to our depleted coffers.
Thefirst weekend was a huge success and the next was looking to better it ... when, suddenly, on Sunday morning, the central business district was filled with the dulcet tones of pneumatic drills, diesel engines and tarseal being wrenched from its moorings, while the sweet scents of industrial fuel exhaust, pre-colonial dust and tar fumes wafted their aromatic way through the Bridge block and along Taupo Quay.
Yes, someone had hit the "self-destruct" button and negated a lot of the good work expended on Artists' Open Studios, making nearby businesses a "no-go" zone except for the masochistic and profoundly deaf.
Not only that, but the City Bridge was closed for the duration of these contractual theatrics, confusing out-of-towners looking for the i-Site and creating detours for those travelling between studios. Effectively, access to the city and its annual artistic attraction was impeded and artists lost custom they have come to rely on.
One hopes it was a genuine mistake that the roadworks were timed for such an occasion and that it is unlikely to happen again.
There's no way someone would have seen the event scheduled and organised such disruptive roadworks anyway, is there?
Organising Artists' Open Studios and marketing the event is a huge undertaking. Credit to Sarah Williams for the many hours she spent ensuring it would be successful - but no such credit to those who sabotaged Sarah's efforts.
