GISBORNE — the city of sundials known throughout the world. That is the dream of Gisborne man Ray Sheldrake, whose idea drew applause when he presented it to Gisborne District Council this week.
Mr Sheldrake believes that sundials, especially analemmatic sundials (human sundials), placed in the ground around the city could give Gisborne a unique image similar to Napier’s Deco City branding and it could be done at relatively low cost. He has even targeted the area for the first sundial in his mind, the intersection of Aberdeen and Roebuck Roads at the Botanical Gardens. Speaking in the public forum section of the council meeting, he said this “crazy idea” came to him in September last year and since then he had researched it throughout the world. That included obtaining pictures of this type of sundial in many cities. This was a concept that would suit all parts of the community and fitted all cultures — European, Maori and others. It would give Gisborne a fresh paradigm. Mr Sheldrake said a few years ago there were plans to build the world’s biggest sundial here but people would always build a bigger one and this was a much more feasible concept. In Napier, even the teenagers got into the spirit of Art Deco week and he believed the whole Gisborne community could involve itself in this project, as sundials offered participatory experience, and were practical, fun and educational. He was not asking the council for a lot of money. The sundials could be built at a relatively low cost. The council could look at building one or two a year, creative design being important. But he also wanted to get businesses, service clubs and schools to support the idea and build their own sundials so they became spread throughout the whole city. Mr Sheldrake said the sundials would not be in competition with the navigations project but would fit in with it. If the council decided to create a task force to establish this, he would like to be involved, he said. He believed while there were sundials right throughout the world, Gisborne — as the first city to see the sun — would be the first place in the world to take them up as a city. Standing orders mean the council cannot debate an issue raised as part of the public forum. But there was spontaneous applause from councillors and people in the public gallery for Mr Sheldrake’s presentation. His sundial presentation is now available online at: www.gisbornesundials.co.nz