Editorial: Statues all about big kids | Bay of Plenty Opinion | Local Voices from Bay of Plenty, New Zealand

Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy and eight of his little mates will soon be taking up residence on Tauranga's downtown waterfront. The bronze statues will cost $650,000 to install and $150,000 to maintain.

The money is expected to come from donations and fundraising, with seed money from TECT.

The installation is expected to be finished in time for next year's 30th anniversary of the first Hairy Maclary book, a series that grew into a publishing phenomenon with more than 10 million books sold in 55 countries.

Some commentators claim the statues will encourage tourism.

Creative Tauranga chief executive Tracey Rudduck-Gudsell said: "It has the potential to create an internationally iconic tourist attraction ... It will be a real centrepiece for the city."

While I applaud Ms Rudduck-Gudsell's enthusiasm and Creative Tauranga's determination to give a local writer due recognition, the term "internationally iconic tourist attraction" might be a bit of a stretch.

Sydney's got the Opera House, Paris has the Eiffel Tower, Agra has the Taj Mahal, and we will soon have a collection of small animal statues commemorating a proud high-water mark in New Zealand children's fiction.

It's brilliant, but let's not pretend it's about tourism.

Some have claimed the statue will be a great joy for children and they will drag their parents on holiday to Tauranga to worship at the temple of Maclary.

It's hard to imagine anyone coming to the sparkling and (usually) sunkissed Bay Of Plenty solely for the Hairy Maclary statues.

Anyone, that is, except Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.

It's reported the Duchess is a Hairy Maclary fan and local MP Simon Bridges last night confirmed he had formally written to the Cabinet office requesting that Tauranga be added to the itinerary for a Royal visit in November.

If it's good enough for the Duchess, it's time we all laid our cards on the table and admitted that these statues - if they serve any purpose beyond recognition of Dame Lynley Dodd's wizardry of words - are really for the joy of children of decades past, who now read the adventures of Zachary Quack and Schnitzel von Krumm to their own kids.

We are the ones who want the touchstone, the characters carved in bronze, to pose in front of with dopey grins and relive our own treasured childhood memories.

And why not? It's not public money, and it illustrates that this city has personality and is rightly proud of Dame Lynley.

Anyone with the ability to create a character like the tomcat Scarface Claw deserves their efforts to be cast in bronze.