A post on Paul Eagle's Facebook page calling for a second Mt Victoria tunnel to be built accidentally pictured the mayoral candidate with the Karori tunnel instead.

A spokesperson for his campaign said it was simply a minor case of human error that was corrected within an hour and a half.

The original image posted had "let's build the second Mt Vic tunnel" plastered across it, with a picture of Eagle, and a tunnel as the background.

However, that tunnel was actually a picture of the Karori tunnel.

The new post has the same message, without a picture of Eagle, and the correct tunnel as the background.

A second Mt Vic tunnel is part of the Government's preferred option for Let's Get Wellington Moving- the city's $7.4 billion transport plan.

The new tunnel would include two lanes for private vehicles and two lanes for public transport.

The existing tunnel would be turned into one for walking and cycling.

Campaign material has proven to be a controversial issue in Wellington's mayoral race to date.

A second Facebook post showed a picture of the correct tunnel. Image / Screenshot

Candidate Tory Whanau "politely declined" to remove her street-level election posters after the council advised they were in breach of its policy.

Whanau's posters on Phantom media sites around the city went up sooner than she anticipated.

A Wellington City Council representative told her the posters did not comply; however, the council had no legal means to enforce its own policy.

The policy on election hoardings outlines that signs should not be put up more than six weeks prior to the final date of voting, so not before Saturday, August 27 for this election.

Whanau rejected the idea the policy created a level playing field since Eagle had already put his billboards up and engaged a lawyer when he was also told to remove them.

One of the legal arguments made on behalf of Eagle's campaign team was that the council's guidelines for temporary signage did not apply to the type of advertising Eagle had used.

They were pre-existing, commercially run electronic billboards, subject to regulatory controls in terms of resource and building consents at the time they were initially installed by their owners, MinterEllisonRuddWatts law firm partner Aaron Lloyd said.

 

- Georgina Campbell, NZ Herald