South Cantabrians are worried they may lose a public holiday after Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Day was announced to be commemorated on September 26 - the same as their anniversary day.
A state memorial will be held in Wellington on the one-off public holiday for the late monarch, who died aged 96 last week.
But those in South Canterbury were concerned they may miss out on their region's anniversary day, which also falls on September 26.
"The one-off public holiday happens to be the same day as our anniversary holiday in South Canterbury," one person emailed Newshub saying. "Nice of [Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern] to give us a day off on our day off."
On social media, people were confused about when they could take the public holiday for their anniversary day.
"So what happens to South Canterbury anniversary day? Do we take it the day after the 26th? Hmmm?" one person tweeted.
"Public holiday declared to coincide with South Canterbury Anniversary. Sorry guys," another said.
"There's going to be a lot of disappointed people in South Canterbury who already had a public holiday on Monday 26th September," a third added.
Another called on the local councils in South Canterbury to "step up and move" the anniversary day.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday she was aware of South Canterbury's anniversary date and that Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Day would fall on the same day.
"We have looked into what happens when you have two overlapping public holidays. This has occurred before, I believe in 2011," she said.
"The legislature dictates that only one public holiday occurs at that time. We have asked [the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment] to reach out to the local leadership in South Canterbury because they do have the ability, should they choose, to move or celebrate their day on another day if they so choose."
She added the clash was discussed at Cabinet and they were "concerned" about it.
Timaru District Council communications manager Stephan Doran told Stuff the three mayors in the region - Waimate, Timaru, and Mackenzie - had met to discuss the issue after government officials told them they could move their anniversary day, should they choose.
Doran said the three mayors proposed to move South Canterbury Anniversary Day to coincide with Canterbury Anniversary Day, which falls on November 11.
