Councillor Helene Ritchie has called for a judicial review of the Wellington City Council’s non-notifiable permit for the giant Wellyword sign to be erected on the airport’s land at Miramar.
Plans for the sign were announced last year and immediately aroused criticism of its size and message. The airport company promised to look at the project again and to consider other options.
Last week it announced it was pressing ahead with the original plans for the 3.5m x 28m long sign.
Councillor Andy Foster is questioning how the consent for the 98 square metre sign was granted. The standard is eight square metres, he said.  
Councillor Ritchie says the sign flouts the district plan by a country mile. “The airport is out of its depth and should stick to its core business. Wellington is a city of innovators, not imitators.”
Other critics range from those who don’t want a sign at all, to those who are embarrassed by what they say is ‘unimaginative, unoriginal and derivative marketing”
Capital Times conducted an informal survey spot survey of 60 people in Lyall Bay.
Vituperously anti were 45 people, saying ‘stupid, silly, disgusting… why do we want to copy anyone?” Eleven didn’t care while four were enthusiastically in favour. One person suggested “it doesn’t always have to say Wellywood. It could say anything the airport wanted to.”
Social network sites supporting the sign had about 10000 people in favour and other sites opposed had more than 22000 against.
Opponents have suggested actions from damaging and graffitiing the sign if it goes ahead to boycotting  Shell, now Z, and recently purchased by Infratil, the majority shareholder of the airport company.
Councillor Ian McKinnon, the council representative on the airport board is not believed to favour the sign, though publicly he has supported the collective decision of the board.
David Newman, airport board chairman asks opponents to lighten up. He is quoted as describing the sign “ as a  little bit edgy,” and predicts that there will be lot of photo’s taken from ‘planes coming in and taking off.
Special training may be required for pilots, to cope with the lemming rush of passengers from one side of the ‘plane to the other in search of that great holiday snap, of “Wellington on a good day.”