IF MASTERTON District Council had a daughter, now would probably be a good time to ask for her hand in marriage.
In our newsroom, we've been wondering what's going to become the next "cemetery gates" chapter for the council, in reference to the drawn-out saga involving the reinstatement of the Archer St cemetery gates. These "sagas" are fuelled by people who get rather worked up over a minor issue. But it seems, so far, the council's in a mood to say yes to them.
The agreement to reinstate the "Founders' Stone", the jasper stone and plaque at the entrance to the town's pioneer cemetery, might have been an aesthetic issue but there was a solid principle behind it. The cemetery gates was an attempt by council to improve the logistics of the entrance to Pioneer Cemetery from Archer St, and I always thought it was an entirely sensible idea. But with the Founders' Stone, there was no worthwhile reason for it to be moved off to one side, or even to have disappeared for four years. In fact, it nearly borders on insolence that the council has apparently been indifferent to putting it back until now.
There are some similarities with the jasper stone and the gates, in that there might have been a perception that increased visitor traffic necessitated a streamlining of these respective entrances. Perhaps that had some justification for the Archer St gates. But this isn't a city cemetery. It's a cemetery that has, perhaps, some peaceful charm but is hardly the most attractive must-see recreational area in Masterton. It's a somewhat damp, untidy and dim area. People wander there, but I don't think a stone and plaque across the pathway is going to cause a bottleneck.
And perhaps that has led to a perception of indifference by the council, as suggested by Founders member Anne Woodley. It would be easy to dismiss the stone as an unimportant detail, and without the efforts of the Founders Society, it could have become an unremembered detail as well.
Perhaps the council is taking to heart a principle my mother used to say to me: if it's easy to say yes, then say yes.