The new Tourism Waitaki visitors sign promoting Hampden has prompted mixed reactions.
Hampden resident Colleen Dooley, who gathered 118 signatures on a petition asking that the previous visitor signs not be removed, said she had "mixed feelings" about the new sign.
Busloads of tourists had stopped at the previous colourful signs on the outskirts of Hampden to be photographed, she said.
Mrs Dooley agreed with the suggestion the new sign would attract visitors to Hampden beach, where Hector's dolphins can be seen on warm summer days.
The new signs in the area were a compromise, Waihemo Community Board member Ken Wheeler, of Hampden, said.
Tourism Waitaki originally wanted plain red signs to "brand" the district, he said.
People in Palmerston, Hampden and other towns, including Kakanui, had opposed the plain signs.
As a result, towns around the Waitaki District had been invited to help design their own signs, which would fit in with the Tourism Waitaki branding.
