War of the roses

Glyn Saunders, a rose expert of international repute who admits to a love affair with roses for over 70 years, says he has "washed my hands" of the entire rose garden upgrade in Masterton's Queen Elizabeth Park".
Glyn and Dora Saunders have lived in Masterton for the past 20 years both having been active rose society members and past presidents of societies both in Wairarapa and at Kapiti.
In 1986, they established a vineyard and ran a hydroponic lettuce operation on Lees Pakaraka Road before moving into town around 10 years ago.
A qualified horticulturist, Mr Saunders is a past president of the New Zealand Rose Society and international judge, which has taken him all over the world to events.
He has spoken out about the development of the new rose garden in the Masterton park saying he is increasingly "unhappy, dismayed and disappointed" with the entire project.
The surprise erection of the huge steel girders to act as a rose arbor was the last straw for him.
Mr Saunders, 75, a politely spoken Englishman, admits he was "rather rude" at a recent "Friends of the Park" meeting where he was critical of what was happening with the rose garden development.
"Surely the rose garden is about roses, and yet the plan does not seem to consider them at all," he said.
"There were others equally rude. One person likening them to fence girders left over from the last prison built."
Mr Saunders had been working with the late Mark George, the council's parks superintendent, to erect an arbor along the same design as the street furniture already erected throughout Masterton's town centre.
"It was a much more user-friendly approach than the massive girders and would have created much better shelter, in keeping with the present furniture design."
He said the green powder-coated mesh units would have also provided "the much-needed visual shelter from the commercial activity opposite the garden on Dixon Street".
"The garden site was excellent 40 years ago, but it's been a bit of a disappointment over the years as the trees have shot up creating shade."
In the 1930s rose garden, there was a timber arbor and there's also been a hedge to protect the roses from the wind, which howls across the site. Both of these have disappeared and Mr Saunders says the worsE-case scenario has resulted of ground draught for the rose plants.
Mr Saunders describes himself as an enthusiastic volunteer worker, these days helping out at the rose garden in the Masonic Village in Masterton's Edith Street.
This weekend sees him teaching the art of rose pruning in the Lincoln Road garden of the cancer hospice.
He strongly believes that a public rose garden should produce roses far excelling ones people grow in their home gardens.
"They should be examples of roses to aspire to."
The new rose arbor steel girders have caught the attention of Masterton district councillors and were the subject of debate at the monthly council meeting this week.
Cr Judith Callaghan, noted gardener with her own personal public garden "Dursley", had described them as "galvanised monstrosities".Both she and Cr Brent Goodwin questioned if members had been shown appropriate concept plans by the landscape consulting firm, Boffa Miskell. Mr Goodwin was also concerned that the park upgrade was supposed to be opening up the park to the street, but the girders did the exact opposite.
"I believe the consultants, the supposed experts, have made a mistake. The girders are too close together and too heavy looking. We should be sitting down and negotiating to fix the situation." He said it needs to be done quickly because the roses are about to be planted.
Mayor Bob Francis believes people should wait until the project is complete before criticising.