Snubbed residents keep up pressure for vote | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

Irate Carterton residents are renewing their call for a referendum on the $6 million Events Centre after the council disallowed names on a petition signed by a third of the town.

Carterton's Residents and Ratepayers Association rallied a 2080-strong petition last year to force a referendum on the project but the council rejected it because 387 of the names weren't on the electoral roll.

Ross Wither, chairman of the association, said the group pored over the names and found there was no grounds to disallow 131 signatures.

He said he had talked to signers who were angry they were disregarded.

Mr Wither called upon Carterton to hold a referendum immediately.

"Well, it's almost megalomania, isn't it?

"It's what becomes a megalomaniac attitude, 'I know what's best, you little minions. Do what you're told'."

Mayor Garry McPhee says the council's electoral officer may have made a few mistakes, but ruled out a referendum.

"It's a moot point whether it's 75 or 175 - it doesn't make any difference to the council's decision to go ahead with something that's been in the long-term plan for a number of years."

He agreed 1500 people was a good chunk of Carterton but believed most of the signers were older and he had the support of the town's younger families.

"The younger families are all for it, the ones that are against it are on their way out."

The Carterton District Council had initially refused to say which names were disallowed until Mr Wither's group received an Ombudsman ruling that the council had no reason to withhold the names.

Mr Wither said some residents appeared to be disallowed because they wrote shortened versions of their names, like "Chris" instead of "Christopher", and others because of minor address issues.

The group recorded 74 petitioners who were disallowed for no reason.

Mr Wither disagrees with council officers who have told him it would be unrealistic to hold a referendum.

"It's not unrealistic to expect a referendum when you have that number of people, 1500 people out of a population of 4000-4500," he said.

The group is supporting four candidates for the council this election - sitting councillors Christopher Engel and William Knowles and new faces John Booth and Alan Eastergaard.

Construction of the Events Centre is expected to begin next month.

The Carterton District Council is borrowing $1 million and selling property and logging rights to meet the facility's $6 million price tag.