Act Party flouts election signage rules in top of the south

Multiple Act Party signs have been found to be in breach of electoral advertising rules across the Tasman and Marlborough districts.

In the Tasman District, electoral ads on billboards are not permitted to be erected more than nine weeks prior to polling day. In Marlborough, they can’t go up before three months out from the election. This year’s General Election polling day falls on October 14.

Motueka local Jeremy Matthews said in the past weeks he cycled past four Act electoral billboards on High St.

“These signs were far too early and far too large,” he said.

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Matthews said the 3sqm signs were displayed near the entrance of the BP petrol station on High St.

“This is [going to] be a very interesting election campaign because it’s so close and apparently this is not the only part of the country where this is happening,” he said.

As of Thursday of this week, the national election was still 16 weeks away, but Matthews said the Act signs have been there since mid-June.

When he noticed the billboards for the first time on June 14, he contacted the Tasman District Council.

He was told that members of the public had laid complaints with the council regarding this issue and that the council would consider “formal enforcement action” as many signs were in breach of the Tasman Resource Management Plan, he said.

Temporary electoral signs would be allowed from August 12.

“But the people who are supposed to regulate these things, they just give you deadlines, and then they just pass the deadlines.

“The regulation doesn’t appear to have any teeth, or indeed any disincentive. So, it’s very frustrating,” Matthews said.

He said the signs were concerning as they represented a democracy issue and a security issue: the presence of the signs was in breach of a law and the oversized signs could represent a distraction for drivers.

Tasman District Council spokesperson Chris Choat said the council had been working with the Act Party in regard to the signs for a few weeks after it received multiple complaints about them.

He said Act representatives recognised the billboards were in breach of some local planning laws, as they were too big and too early.

“There are basic requirements about the size of the signs, which these are in breach of. They are bigger than they should be.

“The major issue that we have had with the party is the content of those signs … these were plain electioneering signs,” Choat said.

Locals spotted similar Act Party signs on State Highway 6 between Renwick and Rai Valley.

A Waka Kotahi spokesperson said they were aware of the issue in Marlborough, and were looking into it, mainly to see if any – or how many – of the signs were within the state highway corridor, or if the Act Party had been given the go-ahead to put them up.

“Signs placed on the state highway corridor road reserve … require Waka Kotahi written approval.

“Any billboards that are on the state highway roading corridor without the written approval of Waka Kotahi will be removed,” he said.

If the signs were on private land, they would fall under that region’s district plan rules.

Marlborough District Council spokesperson Glyn Walters said the council was assessing whether the signs were in breach of the electoral advertising rules.

The signage rules for the council stated that “advertising signs shall not exceed 2sqm in area” and “shall not be erected more than three months prior to the date of the commencement of the activity advertised”.

An Act Party spokesperson said the rules about electoral signs were often confusing and so “occasionally mistakes are made”.