ANOTHER AUCKLAND ARTWORK FOR THE PACKING CASE

During the renovation of Aotea Square Auckland Council bureaucrats endlessly reassured everyone, who they thought would care, that the art works - the Terry Stringer Mountain Fountain and the Selwyn Muru Gate - were safe and would return. More crap apparently. They are planning to "re-locate" the Stringer and remove the Muru. Like Michio Ohara's Wind Tree - which has languished in a packing case for years they have no idea where they would "re-locate" the Stringer and have offered to "drive around town" with the artist looking for a site. All of these works were gifts to the City - would anyone give them public art now?  These decisions are made by a non-elected committee headed by art dealer/consultant Trish Clark and managed by a Swedish import Pontus Kyander. They are supposed to increase the city's public art not reduce it. The council committee responsible is headed by Greg Moyle and it has already overturned one of their decisions it should overturn this one and think again about the whole mess. I lasted two meetings with this lot and resigned when I got the message that they had an agenda public art did not need.