An English-language translation featured on 17 giant hoardings promoting an Amsterdam referendum is so off-message that city officials have decided to have them remade.

The referendum on the council’s plans to determine what parts of the city should be considered key green infrastructure will take place on June 6, on the same day as the European elections.

The hoardings are there to drum up support for the vote, but, according to Anke Bakker, of the local branch of pro-animal party PvdD, the English-language text is both misleading and biased.

Everyone who is registered as living in the Netherlands for five years and officially lives in Amsterdam can take part in the referendum. The vote is on the council plans to establish guidelines for the city’s green infrastructure and which define what areas should stay green and where development can take place.

But environmental and other groups say the plan will weaken protection for the city’s green spaces and last year enough people signed a petition to force a referendum on the issue.

The Dutch text states “are you for or against the council’s approved plan for green infrastructure”. But the English translation is very different. “On June 6th you can vote about a policy document for protecting the capital’s green spaces. You can vote in favour or against it.’

The English text, says Bakker, seems to state that you should vote “for” if you want to protect green spaces. But that, she points out, is not what the referendum is about.

Most of the opposition parties on the city council had called for a debate with the mayor on the English text but she has already decided the posters should be changed.

A city council spokeswoman told Dutch News the text had been agreed with the referendum committee and then translated. “In hindsight, the English translation is too far removed from the Dutch version,” she said. “To prevent misunderstandings, the English texts on the large billboards in the city will be replaced next week for a more factual translation.

The results of the referendum are not binding on the council.