A PAST Wangaratta councillor has savaged the city's proposed emblem, saying it was "a mean-nothing logo" and "complete waste of money".
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Lauren McCully was commenting after the Rural City of Wangaratta unveiled the stylised giant W logo at its meeting on Tuesday night.
"It looks like the Play School window, it's a mean-nothing logo," Ms McCully said.
"I wondered which primary school student designed it."
Ms McCully's comparison to the arch window from children's television was shared by many others on social media, with an upside down Jewish light stand the other image evoked for critics.
"People don't look at Wangaratta because of the logo, they look at Wangaratta because of the town and where it's situated," Ms McCully said.
"Wangaratta is the gateway to the North East, if they want to market Wangaratta as anything that's what they should market it as."
"It's a complete waste of money, what they should be doing is spending it on roads," Ms McCully said.
"Maybe the councillors need to go for a drive around town to see drainage that needs to be replaced and in rural towns, Milawa, Oxley, Whorouly, there's roads that are in desperate need of resheeting or sealing."
Despite the city consulting before formally adopting the logo, Ms McCully says most residents "believe regardless of what feedback they get it's a done deal".
On Wednesday, the council put a video on its website with mayor Dean Rees, Wangaratta Economic Development and Tourism Advisory Council chairman John Joyce, Milawa Motel owner Rod Ambrose, Wangaratta estate agent Peter Joyce, community house executive officer Tennille Hall and farmer Robert Floyd spruiking the merit of the logo.
"Without this project the opportunity will be missed to really get a positive spin on what Wangaratta is and can be for a lot of people," Mr Joyce told viewers.
Cr Rees said the logo would show "these guys are up-to-date, they're up to speed, they want development, they have a council that wants to work hard".
Ms Hall said she did not believe Wangaratta had been recently "portrayed as the place that we all know and love".
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