How many mayors does it take to open a popup shop?

Not one, but four Mayors will open the Hundertwasser “Headquarters” at 2 James St, Whangarei on Monday 15th December at 1.00pm.

Sheryl Mai, current Mayor of Whangarei District Council will be joined by three previous Mayors, Stan Semenoff, Morris Cutforth and Pamela Peters to cut the ribbon.

Hundertwasser HQ is the brainchild of the Prosper Northland Trust to educate and inform the public about the proposed Hundertwasser Wairau Maori Art Centre which has been the subject of much controversy and debate in recent months.

Spokesperson for Prosper Northland Trust, Barry Trass says that opening the “headquarters” which will be staffed by volunteers, was a great way to ensure that people have the opportunity to really get to grips with the facts of the HWMAC proposal.

“We are aware of so much misinformation and inaccurate comment out there that we thought, why not have a forum for education and debate?” He says that the Whangarei District Council has agreed that the model of the planned art centre could be on display in the space located in James St Whangarei.

Leading the team of volunteers who will keep the headquarters open over the next weeks and months is Prosper Northland trustee Jenny Hill. She says that not only will the model be on display, but copies of the plans, letters of support from around the country and the world, photos and images of Friedensreich Hundertwasser and his art works will also be available for people to see.

“I expect the atmosphere in headquarters to be lively,” she says. “It will be a colourful and exciting place to be, and we do expect to have some good debates about the value of HWMAC for Whangarei and Northland.” She said that healthy debate which is based on the facts will be valuable for anyone still making up their mind about the issue prior to the March referendum agreed to by WDC at their October 12th meeting.

Planned opening hours for the headquarters are 10.30 – 4.00 from Monday 15th to Wednesday 24th December, reopening Monday 5th January 2015.

ENDS

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