In November last year, Kiama councillors unanimously endorsed the vision of the sub-branch to have a 1.5-metre Centenary of Anzac logo painted on the Kiama Lighthouse from 2014 to 2018.

A council visual impact analysis is now open for public comment, with the sub-branch still hopeful of having the logo in place for April 2015. 

The proposal has drawn a mixed response with the Lighthouses of Australia organisation expressing its concern with the proposal saying that painting the Centenary of Anzac logo on the Kiama Lighthouse could set a ‘‘dangerous precedent’’ for more than 360 lighthouses across Australia.

Lighthouses of Australia vice-president and Kiama resident Ian Clifford feared that allowing the Kiama Lighthouse to be painted would make saying no to future proposals for any other lighthouses very difficult and potentially bring "commercial pressure" to some lighthouses in significant locations.

Mr Clifford said there was no link between Anzacs and lighthouses and suggested Kiama’s Memorial Arch was a more suitable structure for the Anzac message for the four years as suggested.

However Mr Pullar emphasised that the initial concept to paint the lighthouse had been modified and there was no intention at all to apply any kind of paint to the surface of the lighthouse.

‘‘It is proposed to affix a plastic transfer of the 100 years of Anzac logo which, we are assured, will peel off without leaving any residue or marking,’’ Mr Pullar said

Mr Pullar said the sub-branch had rejected the idea of an ‘‘optical projection’’ as it would only have an effect at night when comparatively few people would see it.

‘‘It is also likely that there would be some distortion as a result of the wall curvature,’’ Mr Pullar said.

‘‘The lighthouse, which is illuminated at night, would also have to be in darkness for the logo to be visible.’’

Mr Pullar argued there was Anzac relevance to the Kiama lighthouse and other lighthouses.

He said the first Anzac Day Remembrance service in Kiama was conducted at the lighthouse in 1916.

‘‘All major troop movements in World War I were by sea,’’ he said.

‘‘Lighthouses were, for many soldiers, the last sight they ever had of their homeland.

‘‘Lighthouses in some ports flashed messages of good luck to departing troopships, notably at Point Otway in Melbourne.

‘‘The Lighthouse at Kiama was mentioned in a poem written by a Private J.W. Carr while under training at the showgrounds. He was killed in action at Villers Brettonneux.’’

Mr Pullar said as the years pass and memories recede it becomes easier for people to forget.

‘‘It is incumbent on us all to uphold the banner of Remembrance ... that is what the logo is for and we believe that the best place for it to be displayed in Kiama is on the lighthouse.’’

The visual impact analysis, available on Kiama Council’s website, is open for public comment until January 5.