Ladder-toting 'vandals' add macrons to Kāpiti Coast signs

Thursday, 29 April 2021

Kāpiti’s welcome signs have a long history of having their macrons removed by vandals, but now other signs in the district are having macrons added.

Kāpiti Coast signs have been updated with macrons by a group of people operating under the cover of darkness.

The move apparently comes in response to the repeated targetting of the district’s welcome signs that have had their macrons painted out numerous times in the past few years.

A video shared on social media last week shows the group adding duct tape macrons to shop and street signs across the district. The footage is followed by a call for people in other towns and citiesto do the same.

“This sign’s tohutō (macron) has been vandalised ten times in the past year,” the captions read under a photo of one of the district’s long-plagued welcome signs, “so we set out to make a statement.”

* Path to macrons in council's te reo names about to get easier

* Macrons painted out of Kāpiti's welcome signs for the fourth time in a year

Kāpiti Coast District Council adopted the macron in 2010 for use on all official papers, publications, maps and signage.

In one instance a ladder was used to reach the signage at a Paraparaumu shopping area, while another shot shows a woman being lifted on a man’s shoulders to remedy another sign.

“There’s just so many places without…”, one woman says to the camera, while another says “I think we’ve seen three that have the macron.”

It finishes with a call to arms urging others in towns without macrons to “get out your tape and correct these names”.

The video had received nearly 30,000 views by Thursday afternoon.

One business owner whose shop received a couple of new macrons said while he appreciated how the duct tape coordinated nicely with his sign’s colour, he preferred to make his own decisions about branding.

Mayor K Gurunathan says the macron-adders have made their point.

“It could have been worse…the vandals could have used spray paint.”

He would consider updating his signs with permanent macrons at some point.

Kāpiti Coast Mayor K Gurunathan said the “almost-graffiti” highlighted the changing attitudes between the generations but urged those behind the well-meaning vandalism to stop.

“You’ve made your point,” he said.

“I saw on the video they were using a ladder, so there is a health and safety issue as well”

While he’d previously said removing macrons from welcome signs was “low IQ vandalism”, he said adding macrons stopped short of criminal behaviour as the tape could be removed.

The council’s group manager infrastructure services Sean Mallon said in a statementcontractors remove graffiti from the welcome signs up to six times a year “which continues to be very disappointing”.

“In line with our Macron Usage Policy, we are working through a process to ensure macrons are used appropriately in the spelling of the words Kāpiti, Ōtaki and Paekākāriki in all new council signage or when signage is required to be reviewed or replaced.”

The macron was adopted by Kāpiti Coast District Council in 2010 for use on all official papers, publications, maps and signage but has been a source of contention for some who believe that Kāpiti spelt with a macron translates to “cabbage” in English.

In 2019, following the third attack on the district’s welcome signs, Māori Language Commission acting Chief Executive Tuehu Harris said taking a macron, or tohutō, away from a Māori word spelt correctly was a bit like undotting an 'i' or uncrossing a 't'.

“Anyone who does that is telling you something about their level of understanding.”

Attempts to contact the woman who posted the video have not been successful.