Ritual photo burning over sea wall stoush

Community board chairman Basil Vertongen laid a ghost to rest but opened a can of worms when Foxton's new sea wall opened a couple of weeks ago.

He publicly burned a photograph of a local couple who had opposed the project, mixed the ashes with water, and then threw them on the wall.

Now Christina and George Paton, who were not present for the opening, are seeking legal advice over what Mrs Paton described as a "sick" action.

But Mr Vertongen told NZPA today that hell would freeze over before he would apologise to the Patons.

He said the objections to the wall from the couple and 16 other people had caused costs to escalate from $150,000 to $350,000 plus.

"I'm sick and tired of this couple costing the local ratepayers a fortune," Mr Vertongen said.

"Four or five years ago when the photo was published I cut it out of the paper and hung it on my wall.

"I said when the wall is built I'm going to burn it. I'm going to set the ghost to rest.

"So that's exactly what I did. I set the ghost to rest. I mixed it with water and threw it on the wall."

Mr Vertongen said similar things happened over and over, involving both councils and private individuals.

"It's all because of the stupid blooming way the Resource Management Act is written ... so a few people can cause so much extra expense," he said.

The Patons maintain they followed normal processes to lodge their opposition at no cost to other members of the community and they said Mr Vertongen's action was sick.

"It's almost akin to children going behind the bike sheds and pulling the wings off flies," she told Radio New Zealand.

"These are grown men supposedly holding responsible positions, and the chairman of the board holds a QSM, now what does that do to people who hold a similar award.

"What sort of company are they keeping?"

Mrs Paton said she believed that until all elected representatives in the region publicly dissociated themselves from the action they were all tainted.

But Horowhenua Mayor Brendan Duffy said he did not think Mr Vertongen's action was intimidating.

- NZPA