There are so many wonderful things about living in Wellington.  There is no place more beautiful, the people are warm and the city is compact.  The weather is a constant topic of conversation and keeps us all guessing – there is no such thing as a mundane day in Wellington on the weather front.

In recent times we’ve labelled ourselves ‘creative’, and we have called ourselves and others have adopted us as the arts, theatre, and creativity capital of New Zealand.  We’ve enjoyed this moniker and because of it we’ve attracted many wonderful events like WOW, and have made great successes of events such at the Rugby Sevens and the International Festival of the Arts.

Part of the reason we’ve been able to do all this is because when you are ‘creative’, by the nature of the name and the title, it means you push boundaries, you challenge tradition and you look at things differently and through slightly more liberal eyes.  For years we have struggled to shake off the perception that as the centre of government Wellington is filled with grey suited, grey skinned, grey owls who lack any sort of colour or character…

My concern is that the political correctness that has now become so rife in our society has in fact started to infect Wellington and is detracting from our creativity and originality, and because of that we are now saying we are something we are not.  There have become so many rules and regulations that stifle creative people – things that seem not to matter, but in fact dumb down the very creativity of which we are so proud.

Permits are needed for balloons and sausage sizzles, and the endless rules for signage and promotion have taken the creativity out of the local body elections.  Clever, creative, yes creative, ideas to attract attention are deemed ‘not fair’ by the ‘fun police’ for fear of giving an advantage to the creative, and instead, for example, signage for each candidate must be assembled in designated areas only, lined up like little like soldiers so no-one can shine above the other.

Local body signage is up for a few brief weeks only, to be removed before the final day of the election and is temporary and not permanent so surely there can be some fun had here in its placement.  Designed to help people make choices on the personalities they are voting for, signage portrays a message, and ‘she looks too labour’, or ‘he looks too national’ may be one of the criteria on which votes may be cast, as well as myriad other intangibles that can be gleaned from a photo, a colour or a statement.

I hope my billboards reflect that in standing as an independent it shows that I believe national politics should play no part in local government and that I stand on a platform that applauds creativity, endorses common sense and accentuates the positive which should transcend any political leanings.

Attempts at creativity in the absolutely positively creative capital have been met with a good old fashioned telling off in a formal manner reminding the perpetrator that thinking outside the square and raising ones head above the parapet is not to be encouraged.  Of course safety and the wellbeing of others is paramount, and dangerous stunts or gimmicks in order to gain attention are most definitely out of the question, however good old commonsense would tell most people what would constitute a risk to life and limb.

There is a police force to enforce illegal acts and to look after the safety of the city and its inhabitants – surely there is no place for a ‘fun police’ force in an absolutely positively creative city like Wellington.