The lights on the navigational mast at Cave Rock continue to ruffle a few feathers in Sumner, prompting a local residents’ group to seek more public feedback.

The mast was erected in 1864 to guide ships, while the lighting installation was erected by the then Sumner Borough Council.

The lights have marked coronations, religious festivals and national events, including the first local jubilant response to the announcement of the end of WW11 and the end of the blackout in Sumner.

It was damaged in the February 22, 2011 earthquake and fixed in December 2021, with funding organsied by the Sumner-Redcliffs Historical Society.

A Sumner Community Residents Association spokesperson told Chris Lynch Media the association “was a neutral party on the issue.”

“SCRAs understanding is that the recommendation from council staff is to conduct a more comprehensive consultation of the community to gather feedback on the appropriate nature of the installation and of its’ configuration, timing and brightness of the lights.”

In August last year, Sumner resident John Lewis told the council he wanted the cross illuminated only for special events, accusing advocates of pushing a “Christian, right-wing populism” agenda.

Sumner resident Angela Woodward said the lighting configuration was “in the form of a Christian Cross” saying it was “not appropriate for a public, secular landmark.”

However, Toni Pengelly from the Sumner-Redcliffs Historical Society said “set against an otherwise profoundly black seascape, the historical lighting installation on Cave Rock looks fantastic!”

Along with the hundreds of often passionate expressions of support from locals and the wider Christchurch community, I share not one, but many of their reasons for loving the lights.”

Pengelly said as an admiralty mast, the installation is primarily an authentic representation of Sumner’s significance to Christchurch’s commerce in the 19th and early 20th Centuries and in a city that has lost many of our precious historical buildings and monuments, it is even more important that we retain such an emblem to the past and our heritage as a community.”

Pengelly said she shares the sentimental attachment and memories of Sumner’s older residents whose childhoods in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s are delightfully evoked by the lights on the mast.”

“For those who see the lights as a Christian Cross, it is a reminder and celebration of the central tenant of the Christian faith – the redemptive love of God for people.

This Judeo-Christian symbol represents the beliefs, ethics and traditions which form the foundation of our shared history and values as a society.

In my view the installation is taonga, our own Sumner treasure and very worth fighting to keep” she said.

In a deputation to the Linwood-Central-Heathcote Community Board, the Sumner Community Residents’ Association said it had been aware of this issue over the past few months “and based on feedback that we have had from the community, there is a positive reaction to the reactivation of Cave Rock and the illumination of the mast.”

“Post-earthquake, residents welcomed the regeneration of Sumner Village and included the reinstatement of historical landmarks.”

“However, we are also aware that in its current configuration, the illumination has both positive and negative interpretations for the community as a whole. Where for many, it brings joy, for others it is uncomfortable.”

Sumner Community Residents’ Association wanted a compromise where the configuration of the lights was equal on the vertical and horizontal access to give a more neutral viewpoint.