WELLYWOOD Sign For Wellington, New Zealand

A proposal to erect a giant “WELLYWOOD” sign in Wellington has created quite a stir. The Wellington Airport proposes to erect the sign on the hills above Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. It will be 30m long and 8m high. It is meant to be a fun thing, to highlight Wellington's success in the film industry. The massive “WELLYWOOD” sign will greet tourists as they fly into the Wellington.

Wellington Airport will pay for the construction of the sign on the Miramar site which it owns.The project has already received resource consent and final installation is expected to happen in June.However, it has created quite a deal of debate about its desirability. Is it just a blatant copying of the Huge “Hollywood” sign in California, USA, or a brilliant idea???

The Airports chief executive Steve Fitzgerald said it was a "wonderful celebration of the city's talent and success" of movie making. Sir Peter Jackson, the director of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and the Hobbit, currently in production in New Zealand, supports the sign.Sir Peter Jackson said that despite the gloomy economy it was good to see there was still room for some "cheeky fun"."It's Kiwi tongue-in-cheek humour at its very best, but beneath the leg-pulling is genuine pride."Several of the most popular films ever made were born in Miramar. Within a mile of the sign is the birth place of Middle-earth and Pandora."

However, many people strongly dislike the idea of the huge sign. More than 24,582 people have joined the "Wellingtonians Against the Wellywood Sign" page on Facebook saying that it is cheap, ugly and tasteless. The while the "Hey, let's NOT have a "WELLYWOOD" sign in Wellington" group has 15,823 members, and "A WELLYWOOD sign on the Miramar Cutting hill is a STUPID idea" page has many members.

Wellington people have staged their own protest by driving their cars around the Airport on Monday night displaying signs like "Wallywood" and "Wellywon't". A local comedian Raybon Kan said the sign "will make us Lord of Cringe". A New Zealand brewery has 15 cases of beer to anyone who successfully destroys the sign, "no questions asked". The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce threatening legal action to protect its trademark.

Celia Wade-Brown is the current Wellington Mayor and she does not support the sign.  However, Kerry Prendergast, the former Mayor of Wellington, said the giant sign would capture the essence of the capital."The sign will be one of the first things people will see when they arrive in Wellington. They will be left in no doubt that this is the heart and soul of New Zealand's film industry."  Tours of film-related facilities in Miramar are emerging as one of the city's prime tourist attractions, with about 100,000 people last year visiting the Weta Cave – Weta's mini-museum, theatrette and shop.The film industry pumps an estimated $285 million a year into Wellington.

The Airport still intends to go ahead with the huge sign. Airport board chairman David Newman said: "I just wish people would lighten up a bit. It is done with a sense of humour."

It will be interesting to see if the sign is erected or the idea not followed up, and how long it survives if it is erected.The controversy about the sign is really about how a country welcomes its visiting tourists. Is the erection of a huge the best way, or is it the welcoming attitudes of the locals to tourists?

The facebook sites are:-   
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wellingtonians-Against-the-Wellywood-Sign/186318884753869

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=354085372690