Bay Harbour: February 03, 2021

Wednesday February 3 2021
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
BAY HARBOUR
PAGE 3
‘Flag it’ – this is not good enough either
•Have your say on this flag above.
Email your views to samantha.mythen@
starmedia.kiwi
• By Samantha Mythen
CHRISTCHURCHNZ
has done a U-turn over
its controversial move to
Christchurchise Lyttelton.
But the city council’s tourism
and economic arm appears
to have made another
public relations blunder – it
has replaced the contentious
Christchurch and Ōtautahi
street flags with the red and
black of Canterbury.
Lyttelton
Harbour
Business
Association
chairwoman,
Vicki Tahau-
Paton, said
Vicki Tahau
Paton
the change to
red and black
flags was an
inadequate
response to the community’s
concerns.
“The businesses in Lyttelton
have worked incredibly
hard to keep their identities
unique. Their hard work and
successes is not because they
belong to the city council
but because they are in Lyttelton,”
she said.
Bay Harbour News readers
and Facebook posters want
the street flags to display the
te reo Māori name for Lyttelton,
Ōhinehou.
ChristchurchNZ’s change
comes after it said two weeks
ago there was no budget to
change the wording of the
flags. But the Canterbury
flags appear to have come
at no cost. They have been
dragged out of storage.
The Canterbury flags
were flown in Lyttelton last
year before being replaced
with the Christchurch and
Ōtautahi.
John
McLister
Said
Lyttelton
resident John
McLister: “So
in response
to Lyttelton
wanting a flag
that represents
the town,
Christchurch-
NZ gets the
Crusaders flags out of storage.
“If the lads were coming
to the port for a game, great.
But as this is unlikely. Again
we have flying in the heart of
the village something of no
relevance to our place.
“Time to flag it ChristchurchNZ.”
Tahau-Paton said the red
and black flags were “pretty
generic.”
Last year, she spoke to to
Deputy Mayor and Banks
Peninsula Ward city councillor,
Andrew Turner about
whether the Canterbury
flags would be replaced.
Tahau-Paton said other
business owners were not
surprised with the generic
flag replacement.
“It is the council’s attempt
to keep the peace,” she said.
Turner met with
ChristchurchNZ last week
and now believed the main
issue had now been resolved.
“The immediate problem
has been solved by replacing
the Ōtautahi flags with
something more generic,”
he said.
“The reality is that currently
there are not Lyttelton
specific flags available at the
moment.
“Other parts of the city
may expect something more
specific then too if the flags
were Lyttelton specific.
“If the opportunity for
Lyttelton specific flags arose
in the future, I would welcome
this discussion.”
He was pleased
ChristchurchNZ had
taken on the community’s
concerns and had acted
quickly in resolving the
main issue.
“This shows the value of
community involvement
and the importance of the
community speaking out
and sharing their concerns,”
Turner said.
A ChristchurchNZ
spokesperson told Bay
Harbour News: “We are continually
assessing our street
banners strategy, including
how we may incorporate the
individual character of city’s
various localities.”
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