'People power' wins gates debate

BUSTED: The Archer St cemetery gates are opening wide.

People pushing to have the Archer St Gates reinstated at Masterton Cemetery have won the day after months of lobbying and debate.

In a surprise move yesterday a special meeting of Masterton District Council did an about-face and agreed to widen the entranceway to the cemetery for cars after councillor Brent Goodwin had lodged a notice of motion calling for it to be done.

The vote to open the gates to cars while still catering for pedestrians was carried 6-4, reversing the decision in late May to leave things as they were, but came against the wishes of mayor Lyn Patterson who said the vote had set a precedent and paved the way for "chequebook democracy".

Crucial to the turn-around was the vote of first term councillor Simon O'Donoghue who switched his allegiance and supported the Goodwin initiative.

That meant the move to reinstate the gates had the support of councillors Brent Goodwin, Gary Caffell, Doug Bracewell, Chris Peterson, David Holmes and Mr O'Donoghue.

Remaining opposed were councillors Mark Harris, Jonathan Hooker, Pip Hannon and Mrs Patterson.

Deputy mayor Graham McClymont remained consistent in that he again abstained on the grounds he had a financial interest in the outcome.

Not only will the entranceway be widened to allow for single lane car access but the wrought iron gates themselves will be reinstated and locked at night.

Introducing his notice of motion, Mr Goodwin said the Archer St Gates issue had polarised the community.

Issues raised in May by councillors opposed to reinstating the gates could now be put aside.

He was referring to a belief reinstatement would be a cost to council when in fact rural ratepayer Kevin Fearon has agreed to pick up the entire tab.

Likewise it had been clearly shown no cremation ashes would need to be relocated.

Councillor Caffell spoke of the pre-election comments candidates had made over councillors not listening to the concerns of the community.

He said this was a text book example of that and a chance for the council to listen to ratepayers.

Councillor Bracewell issued a warning to councillors saying if a decision to re-open the gates was not made it could be faced with accepting responsibility for accidents.

Traffic had increased through driving into the park to reach the cemetery, a safety problem especially in summer when lots of children were in the park and sports were being played.

The mayor was strongly opposed to change.

She said a legitimate decision had been made by the council three years ago to reshape the corner of Park Ave and Archer St and by reversing that the door has been opened to "chequebook democracy".

"We are setting a precedent." Anyone who didn't agree with a decision of the council and was prepared to pay to have it changed could try to do so.

"We are on a slippery slope," Mrs Patterson said.

The about-face means a section of the perimeter fence facing Park Ave will be demolished to let cars enter and a kerbed footpath will be built inside the cemetery for the safety of those visiting occupied cremation plots.