25 Feb 2014

Poll shows most want gallery

3:19 pm on 25 February 2014

A newspaper poll out on Tuesday shows a large majority of people in favour of Whangarei's controversial Hundertwasser gallery.

The Whangarei Council has been planning for several years to build the colourful gallery, based on a design by the late Austrian artist, Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

But eight councillors have moved to scuttle the project at Wednesday's council meeting, by deleting it from the Annual Plan.

A survey of a thousand people, published in Tuesday's Northern Advocate newspaper shows 719 people in favour of the project, with 377 against.

A similar poll conducted by the newspaper before the local election correctly predicted the victory of Whangarei's mayor, Sheryl Mai.

Opponents of the Hundertwasser gallery object to the $8 million cost to ratepayers and the unusual design.

Supporters say the cost is relatively modest, and the gallery would put Whangarei on the map, just as the Hundertwasser toilets have made Kawakawa a tourist magnet.