Decisions about the repainting of the faded Big Fruit sculpture were made by council staff not the Cromwell Community Board, Central Otago District Council staff confirmed yesterday.

Finding a contractor to take on the large-scale job has proved difficult and after a year of looking the work is about to be put out for tender.  

Last winter the Cromwell Community Board agreed to a staff recommendation to increase the budget for painting from $50,000 to $100,000 to accommodate a $94,500 quote, in order to get the job done.

According to a council report, it had been the only quote staff had been able to secure after considerable research. Some Board members were unhappy at the spend but saw no other option. Board member Tony Buchanan voted against the plan at the June meeting.

Last week, as reported in our previous story, council communications staff advised The Central App that the Board had decided to not accept the quote.

“The Cromwell Community Board decided not to accept the quote it received in early 2021, which was valid for only 30 days. Given the specialist nature of the job, the Board decided to put the job to tender to get the best price in the approved budget. The Council is working towards that and is working through the process of having its procurement method signed off”.

When asked when the Board had made this decision, parks and recreation staff clarified it had in fact been council staff who had decided not to accept the quote.

“This decision was not made at a meeting as such; it was an operational decision made by the Council, which was informed by the Cromwell Community Board’s move to approve an additional $50,000 in funding (at the June meeting in 2021) and was defined by the Council’s procurement policy for this project (with a budget of $100,000).”

The sculpture was last painted six years ago at a cost of $37,000 and the effects of Central Otago’s harsh sunlight mean it is now ripe for a repaint.

The 32-year-old structure symbolising the area’s strong horticulture industry, is photographed daily by visitors. Talk of adding cherries, grapes and even a chafer beetle has been reported for many years but no changes have been made.