What is in a number? A lot, if you are Bill Feather.
The Mosgiel Taieri Community Board chairman has been charged with updating Mosgiel's welcome sign but does not know what the official population number is.
For years, the sign has said 9063 people live in the "Pearl of the Plain", but many feel that number must be out of date.
However, according to Statistics New Zealand, the count is not far off.
For census purposes, Mosgiel is divided into three areas - Bush Rd, Mosgiel East and Mosgiel South - the combined population of which was 9120 in 2006.
But with subdivisions taking over what was once rural land, the edges of Mosgiel were "drifting", Mr Feather said.
Mosgiel's neighbours, Wingatui, East Taieri and Wyllies Crossing, boasted populations of 1173, 1377 and 291 respectively in 2006.
His question was how many of these people should be included in Mosgiel's official population.
Do Dukes Rd or Riccarton Rd residents class themselves as being of Mosgiel?"The perception, I suppose, is that the boundaries have changed," he said.
He was interested in finding out what the public thought constituted Mosgiel and questioned whether the area between Wingatui Rd and Riccarton Rd, Kinmont and the Chain Hills should be included, which would bring the population count up to about 14,000.
Another idea was to include all households under the postal code 9024.
The community board wanted to "refresh" the welcome sign in time for the Rugby World Cup and had been in contact with organisations represented on the board, including the Mosgiel District Lions Club, the Rotary Club of Mosgiel and the Mosgiel Round Table.
