Goat awol, penguins deflated, throne found...

Mayor Peter Chin addresses yesterday's Dunedin City Council meeting in Middlemarch, flanked by...
Mayor Peter Chin addresses yesterday's Dunedin City Council meeting in Middlemarch, flanked by council chief executive Jim Harland (left) and Strath Taieri Community Board chairman Barry Williams (right). Photo by Peter McIntosh.
Barry Williams, of Middlemarch, always wanted the Dunedin City Council to come to town.

     • Council finds money for CCTV

After all, it was the Strath Taieri Community Board - with Mr Williams as its chairman - which issued the invitation to Mayor Peter Chin last year.

It was accepted following a vote in February this year, approving what would be just the third full council meeting staged outside the city centre since amalgamation in 1989.

Of course, a few things needed sorting in Middlemarch before that could happen.

First off, the window in the community centre needed fixing - the one broken by the rampaging goat on Saturday night.

The goat had been "invited" inside by a group of hunters and rugby players as part of a competition to bring back a live animal, but it had taken exception to the experience, Mr Williams said.

After running around the hall and across a table, it smashed through a window and was last seen "going south" at great speed, he said.

"It could only happen here, couldn't it."

Mr Williams' wife was also far from impressed when told the news - "we have got the mayor coming, you know" - prompting a hurried call to a glazier yesterday, he said.

Next, an appropriate chair was needed for the mayor to sit on - that's where the old Masonic throne hidden at the back of the town's museum came in handy, Mr Williams said.

Lastly, came the food - sorted, of course, by the ladies and their plates, whipping up a storm in the community centre's kitchen.

Put it all together, and the town pulled off its first meeting of the Dunedin City Council yesterday afternoon.

And not even the set of the mid-winter Christmas Lights show at the back of the hall, switched on and with inflatable penguins bobbing up and down, could distract councillors from the business at hand.

Well, almost: "There's small penguins that have been trying to get your attention all afternoon," Cr John Bezett quipped to Mr Chin, part-way through yesterday's meeting.

"I'll get Cr [Neil] Collins to deal with them," the mayor replied, as the deflating plastic wildlife retreated again.

"Of course, some things never change - the chairs put out for the public gallery were all but empty, and more so after the three disgruntled ratepayers who did show up were invited to leave by Mr Chin for the non-public part of the meeting.

"This council coming here was an absolute waste of time if they wouldn't let local people speak," resident Kathy Williamson declared outside, while waving a handwritten list of grievances that included rubbish and signage.

Mr Chin told the Otago Daily Times the event was a chance for councillors to see more of the city they represented, and for the people of Middlemarch to learn more about how the council operated.

"I'm very happy to be here - how can you not be happy when you have got the Strath Taieri landscape?" he said.

Cr Kate Wilson, of Middlemarch, was also delighted to be returning home for council business, after trekking across the countryside each time she attended council business in Dunedin.

Middlemarch farmer Gordon Wilson, invited to read yesterday's meeting prayer, said the visit would help councillors understand their city.

"When you stop and pause here I think you get more of a feeling for the area and its people."

 

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