Are penny farthings wheeling around central Oamaru the answer for tourism promotion, some Waitaki District Council councillors want to know.
That question was raised at a recent meeting of the corporate services committee, prompted by a proposal from the North Otago advisory group of the Otago Chamber of Commerce to use penny farthings and their riders as interactive tourism promotion.
The penny farthings would catch the eye of visitors, who would be given brochures educating them about the town's heritage attractions, encouraging them to stay and spend money.
But some councillors were wary of setting aside $20,000 from a $275,000 reserve built up from central business rates.
Cr Jim Hopkins felt allocating money to the proposal was premature.
It was unique and had the potential to be successful, but there could be other alternatives - even offering businesses a rates rebate.
The difficulty was the chamber had not spoken to its members about what they wanted, he said.
Cr Gary Kircher said there was no indication the central businesses wanted to be promoted, nor if there were other proposals that should be developed.
The committee has recommended the chamber's proposal be sent to the Waitaki Development Board, and the board come back to the council with a recommendation.
