New Zealand residents say bra fence must stay

Lingering lingerie - New Zealand residents say bra fence must stay
at 1:13 on February 13, 2006, EST.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Residents of a small rural New Zealand district have voted unanimously to retain a "bra fence" - a farm barrier festooned with hundreds of brassieres - after a sole objector tried to get the ladies' underwear removed.

Cardrona on South Island has attracted worldwide attention since four woman hung their lingerie on the fence there on New Year's Day 2000 to mark the "liberation" of the new Millennium. Thousands of tourists stop to photograph the fence each year.

But the community has been facing a cleavage of a different kind because of the fence: U.S. national Andre Prassinos, who lives for part of the year in nearby Wanaka township, has been complaining for more than a year that the titillating testament to the locals' sense of humour presents a "potential traffic hazard."

After he lodged a fresh complaint with the local council last week, Cardrona Valley ratepayers and residents came out in support of the "iconic" fence, voting unanimously for it to stay, said local lobbyist John Scurr.

"We don't want it getting higher, longer or suddenly being filled with boots and knickers as well. But it should stay because it's become part of the valley," Monday's Southland Times newspaper quoted Scurr as saying.

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