Tangata whenua representatives have slammed a council decision not to run a second referendum to gauge support for a museum.
The council rejected Councillor Larry Baldock's call for another referendum by nine votes to three, this afternoon.
The majority was unmoved by a poll showing majority support for another referendum or his impassioned plea for elected officials to think of the next generation.
Most of the councillors who voted nay said they supported a museum but not now, and not with so much of the funding burden resting on ratepayers.
Councillor Rick Curach said the real poll would be the election.