Council asked to contribute to TRM sign?

Following is TRM’s application for a sports grant to promote trout fishing and rafting in the Taupo/Turangi/Tongariro region.

APPLICATION:
TRM wish to apply for a community sports grant of $9,000 for promoting trout fishing in the Taupo-Turangi region.  If you have any concerns or doubts about the strong sports connections between fishing and tourism in this region then we invite you to discuss the relevance and historic importance with Jane Wilson – General Manager of DGLT (Destination Great Lake Taupo) – Taupo Council’s tourism promoters.


The best most effective way to promote this sport, for the wider Taupo regional sporting community to benefit, is on a huge sign on SH1 at the northern entrance to Turangi, close to the world famous Tongariro River.  

Historic Welcome to Turangi sign on SH1 prior to 2010.

As a suitable sign was erected over three years ago at TRM’s (Tongariro River Motel) expense, the grant is requested to cover design and construction and lighting and legal costs of the resource consent and fines.  If your committee decide that retrospective funding does not qualify then we would be delighted to design another new sign instead.  It is time for the sign to be “refreshed” anyway.

The x-Council sign was reinstated on SH1 and Piri Road in 2010 after council removed it.

The sign was originally erected to replace the council sign which had the same wording – “Welcome to Turangi – The Trout Fishing Capital of the World”

In 2015 Taupo Council removed this sign to add their new logo but failed to replace it.

SIGN HISTORY:
Below are several images to illustrate the history of the signs on the corner of SH1 and Piri (Back then it was “Link”) Road.  At top is the original Council sign which was re-erected on the TRM corner in 2010.  You will appreciate the expensive landscaping involving stones and pumice from the Tongariro River set in the wall extending around the corner road frontages, to show off the “ Welcome to Turangi” sign to best advantage.    

In 2015 TRM erected the new sign but were fined $300 the day after… and then fined another $750 for adding the directional signage for tourists, and then charged $1500 for a resource consent for replacing an existing sign…

(Firstly note it did not advertise TRM!.  It only welcomes tourists to the trout fishing “mecca”.  It was needed to simply to replace the original sign which Council removed as they claimed they had to replace the old obsolete Council logo.  But when Council did not replace it (as previously promised!) TRM erected our own improved design which, you can imagine, was very expensive for a little motel to afford.  But in the interest of sports promotion in Turangi combining tourism and goodwill, TRM paid for it.) 

The new sign had the same message but Council demanded $1500 resource consent for replacing existing signs that had been in place for over fifty years.

Despite the “existing use” precedent, without any warning or previous correspondence, Taupo Council fined TRM $300 the day after the new sign was erected.  
Soon after that was followed by another fine of $750 for adding “directional wording” for tourists.  
(see above : TURN LEFT TO TONGARIRO RIVER – TURN RIGHT TO TOWN CENTRE  – TRM absolutely refute Council’s claim that this wording had to be removed in case it was confused with any NZTA signage.  i.e. Where else in NZ does NZTA have signs showing trophy trout etc.?)  

SH1corner landscaped with stone and pumice walls to compliment the new ‘Welcome” sign.


Then, to rub it in, Taupo Council demanded a $1500 resource consent payment for replacing an existing sign that had been there since before Taupo Council existed….  
(So much for Council trying to provide encouragement for a ‘welcome to tourists’ sign promoting sport in Turangi?.  A very sad attitude for a tourist town.  TRM maintain this amounted to a Council abuse of power – such arrogance was obviously personal and unacceptable.  After that you can understand why Turangi folk continue to complain about Taupo’s lack of reinvestment in Turangi and unfortunate response to TRM for trying to show some initiative.  So this is an ideal opportunity for your committee to compensate for Council’s unnecessary abuse.
Therefore it is appropriate and timely for Taupo Council, via your sports grant, to compensate TRM for TRM’s generosity and goodwill extended to encourage fishing and rafting tourists to this region over the last nine years.  

Wonderful publicity for TRM and poor PR for Taupo Council?

Community Sports Grant

Funding is allocated each year to support sporting activities and approved projects in the Taupo District. The purpose of the fund is to:

  • Assist appropriate voluntary sports clubs or organisations in the provision of projects or services that improve the wellbeing of the community.
  • Provide financial grants to individuals resident in the Taupo District (including high school students who may board outside the district during the school term) in recognition of an individual’s excellence in sport and the profile their representative selection will bring to the community.

The Lake Taupo District Sports Advisory Council is a voluntary organisation which actively facilitates the development of sporting people and for the purposes of this community fund, is the distributing agency under contract to us. 

Applications for funding now open

Applications for the Community Sports Grant are now open. Applications for funding close on Friday, June 14 2019. Please note late applications will not be considered.