It was over in a flash, or should that be flush.

Ashburton councillors voted not to build new toilets in the Ashburton Cemetery, without a single word of debate on Wednesday [APRIL 16].

The vote was hung 5-5 at the previous council meeting on April 2, with Mayor Neil Brown holding his casting vote to wait for more information.

The additional information Brown received, that was circulated to the other councillors, had him use the casting vote against the motion to build a new toilet facility in the Ashburton Cemetery, between the Seafield Lawn and the Bremner Lawn, and that the existing toilet block be demolished.

The option was estimated to cost $303,000.

Brown then presented a new motion, that no further progress be made on the toilet project at the Ashburton cemetery in the medium term, and instead carry out maintenance on the existing block from existing budgets.

His call for debate was met with silence and then the motion passed unanimously.

It was a peculiar turn of events as at the previous meeting the subject had resulted in a lengthy discussion and debate that ended in the tied vote.

Brown said the additional information he received, showing the project would be funded through borrowing, swayed him to vote against the project.

He said he had not discussed how he would use his casting vote or his plan to propose not building a new facility was not discussed in advance of the meeting.

He believed the other councillors must have come to the same realisation after the additional information was circulated.

Brown noted it is the only cemetery in the district that has toilet facilities and spending $300,000 on a new one didn’t feel vital at this time.

By Jonathan Leask