'Arrogant' club defies the rules

The parade to celebrate Marlborough's 150th birthday yesterday was almost disrupted at the last minute after a spat reignited between vintage enthusiasts and the Marlborough District Council.

Marlborough Vintage Farm Machinery (MVFM) and the Marlborough branch of the Vintage Car Club New Zealand clashed with the council in September after safety concerns saw the clubs' proposal for a two-hour parade shelved.

A compromise was later reached to increase the length of the parade and allow 65 vintage cars and machines to take part.

But tempers flared just hours before the parade as some MVFM members threatened to break the agreement with the council and police over the number of vehicles in the parade.

The parade eventually ran without incident, and MVFM vice-president Bernie Mason later told The Marlborough Express the club had been arrogant and was partly to blame.

However, before the parade MVFM member and parade master Leslie Price told The Express he was "riled beyond belief" that the 65-vehicle limit, which had previously been agreed to, was to be enforced.

"We know that we had more numbers than they allocated us but the reality is this is celebrating 150 years of Marlborough ... countless hours of voluntary work has been put in," Mr Price said.

He had organised for about 20 vehicles to be removed from the parade, but told others to they were legally allowed to be on Maxwell Rd, where the parade started.

Police and the council's support services manager Dean Heiford eventually allowed up to 100 vintage cars and machinery to take part in the parade, taking the total number involved to more than 150 when floats were included. A traffic management plan had catered for 120 vehicles and floats. Mr Heiford said a spot decision was made to allow more vehicles in the parade. MVFM's actions were "disappointing", but he was pleased with how the parade had run.

"It all worked out on the day."

Marlborough Mayor Alistair Sowman said before the parade he was "annoyed" with MVFM's actions.

"It seems to me that the vintage machinery people had no intention of sticking to the plan. There was a meeting on Wednesday and they didn't say anything. If you are unhappy, you say, you don't wait until the eleventh hour."

Mr Mason said last night the club had been "a wee bit arrogant".

"Half the blame was ours. We were untruthful with our numbers [at Wednesday's meeting] ... we were ignoring [the council]." They had done so because they felt the vehicle limit was unjustified and as the "holders of history" they should be able to share as much of it as they could with the public, Mr Mason said.