Opinion: Petition a waste of time and money

Court hearing of Macpherson Petition for Inquiry into election. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER

I don't know about anyone else, but I was quite looking forward to hearing how Reynold Macpherson planned to convince a judge the Rotorua mayoralty election should be scrapped and a whole new election held.

I was curious to hear how the delayed release of the results of a 400-person survey could have had such a significant impact on how people voted, that had it been released before the election it would have turned around the 2863 margin by which Steve Chadwick beat him.

The popcorn was at the ready as I eagerly awaited what revelations and fireworks might come out in the courtroom. After all, Dr Macpherson has never been one to hold back.

But it wasn't to be, with the news yesterday Dr Macpherson and the Rotorua Lakes Council had reached a settlement and the case has been dropped.

All jocularity aside, what a waste of time and money that was.

In the minds of some, questions may remain around the timing of the release of those survey results.

But would it have made a difference to the election result? In my opinion, absolutely not.

Knowing what 400 other Rotorua residents thought would not have changed my vote - would it have changed yours? The dissenting viewpoint on issues such as the Green Corridor, City Focus and children's health hub were given plenty of coverage pre-election, in both this publication and others. Voters were well aware there were plenty of people unhappy with decisions made by the mayor and her council. They didn't need a survey to tell them that.

Perhaps last week's preliminary court hearing gave Dr Macpherson a reality check as to what the challenge would involve and what he would have to prove. Though I suspect it all came down to costs.

Though neither party would comment on what the terms of the settlement were and the council would not comment on how much its legal fees had been, they were clearly mounting.

The case has also been an unnecessary distraction when the mayor and council should be getting stuck into running Rotorua for the next three years.

I was glad to hear Dr Macpherson concede continuing with the petition was in no one's interest.

In my opinion, it's just a shame he didn't realise that sooner.