Cemetery entrance decision deferred

DIVIDED: A view of the Archer St entranceway from inside Masterton Cemetery with cremation plots in the foreground. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

Activists pushing for the return of vehicle access from Archer St into Masterton Cemetery have lived to fight another day after Masterton District Council this week voted to defer its final decision on whether to restore the old entranceway.

The council was expected to rubber stamp a hearings committee recommendation not to revisit the Archer St issue which has been a bone of contention for months - and the subject of a 400-strong petition - but backtracked and called on its engineers to produce a report outlining what can be done.

The deferral was carried on a 6-2 vote after a presentation by councillor Gary Caffell who described the reaction to the council's reluctance to return the entranceway to allow cars to enter the cemetery as "the strongest feeling of anything to come from the community since I have been on council".

Mr Caffell said the 400 signatures to the petition were nearly all collected by "two women who sat at the doorway of a book sale being held in the town hall" and it was likely many more would have signed if the petition had been more widely available.

He said confusion had arisen in the minds of many Masterton people reading council documents that "clearly stated the plan was to have a single vehicle entrance to both the cemetery and the park".

"It also said the cemetery would become pedestrian access only, what does that mean?"

Mr Caffell said it had been "very frustrating" for councillors to only recently learn three cremation plots that could be affected if the full Archer St entranceway was restored had actually been sold.

Two months ago when he and Mayor Lyn Patterson and councillor Doug Bracewell had met people concerned over the narrowing of the entranceway, there had been no talk of the plots having been sold, or on a later park walkabout.

"Nowhere in the hearings committee report is there any indication our engineers have been asked whether the entranceway could be restored without damaging the cremation plots, and I believe that is a huge omission.

"Public interest in this debate is so huge and the end decision so important to so many people that we need to explore every avenue before making our decision," Mr Caffell said.

Councillor Doug Bracewell backed deferring a decision until engineers had reported back.

"Sometimes as councillors we have to bite the bullet and look at whether we are making the best decision for our ratepayers," he said.

Putting aside a decision was also supported by councillor David Holmes who said he likewise had been surprised to find the crucial cremation plots had already been sold and it was "appropriate" to revisit the issue.

Voting for the deferral were councillors Gary Caffell, David Holmes, Chris Peterson, Simon O'Donoghue, Doug Bracewell and Brent Goodwin.

Deputy mayor Graham McClymont abstained and councillors Jonathan Hooker and Mark Harris were against deferral.