The replacement of weather-beaten, ripped and soggy Rugby World Cup bunting has cost the Auckland Council more than $100,000.
The bunting, made from a cardboard-like material, was put up in many of the city's suburban streets, as part of the council's adopt-a-second-team programme.
However, the bunting needed to be urgently replaced when wind and rain caused the bunting to break up, with the remains littering the streets.
Figures show that the council forked out $52,382 to replace the damaged bunting and a further $63,911 in removal and installation costs.
With GST included the total paid is $133,736 - although the council said as an expenditure the GST-excluded figure of $116,293 was more accurate, the New Zealand Herald reported.
Other councils around the country used a bunting supplier selected by cup organiser Rugby New Zealand 2011.
The bunting other councils received was made of flag material that stood up to weather conditions.
The Auckland Council chose its own supplier, Lineset Design and Print, which used a PVC-coated, cardboard-like material.
A total of 4813m of bunting was sold to suburban business associations at purchase price.
A spokesman for Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development said nearly all of the original bunting was replaced with something more weather resistant in time for the knockout stages of the cup.
NZN