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Mountain Biking Otago has been ordered to rename three of its tracks after the Dunedin City Council deemed them inappropriate.
The Mrs, The Mistress and Ginger Cougar on Signall Hill in Dunedin will be replaced with more appropriate names approved by the council.
A member of the Sig Digs group on Facebook posted the news on social media yesterday, describing it as ‘‘a sad day’’.
Council parks and recreation group manager Robert West said it had received two complaints about the names of three Signal Hill mountain biking tracks.
Staff agreed the names were inappropriate and raised the matter with Mountain Biking Otago, he said.
‘‘We are pleased MBO has agreed to make the changes and understand some of the signs have already been removed. We are working with the group on guidelines for the future naming of tracks.’’
Mountain Biking Otago president Kristy Booth said she was ‘‘disappointed for all involved’’.
The tracks had these names for seven to 10 years, and ‘‘in this time there has been no negative comments bought to our attention’’.
‘‘We don't find them inappropriate within the context of how their names came to be.’’
Volunteers would need to spend a significant amount of time club funds correcting one person's complaint, she said.
The cost of the changes was ‘‘a considerable amount, as it's not just three signs at the beginning of each of these tracks, but other signage that contain their names elsewhere.’’
Track signage costs had always been covered by Mountain Biking Otago.
Mrs Booth said the committee were meeting tomorrow to confirm new names and proceed with new signage.