Putting the cart before the horse

this fairly unique dilemma.

And yet that is exactly what appears to have happened.

The council, with the help of independent brokers, have arrived at a solution whereby Lewis has relinquished his patch of CBD footpath in return for accommodation elsewhere.

And then there’s the matter of talks to return his previous lifestyle of horse and cart, and whether or not the council is prepared to facilitate this.

If Stanton is out of sight he certainly isn’t out of mind. Already the idea that he could receive ongoing help from the council has rankled many.

So the public is happy he’s no longer a highly visible presence on Trafalgar Street. But the problem the council face is that if they don’t go further than simply remove him and hope the problem will go away, it won’t.

In the face of all of his detractors Stanton has shown unflagging devotion to his cause and there’s little doubt he still has plenty of fight left in him. The trouble is few people even really understand what that cause is. The council is now faced with taking the reasonable step of trying to get to the bottom of it.

The council has had a rough ride with this one. As much as they’ve tried to meet the problem head-on in the past it has been a little like Sisyphus rolling his boulder up the hill.

No attempts to sway to Stanton’s demands were ever going to be popular. But, if a deal is struck and Stanton holds up his end of the bargain, ends his protest and rides off into the sunset to live quietly out of the public eye, then surely this is the best outcome that can be hoped for.

Given the length of time this whole thing has dragged on, and the amount of money and time it has already soaked up, public skepticism of a happy ending for all is understandable.

But putting in place a bylaw was only ever going to be the first step in the process of dealing with Stanton or preventing anyone else from rising up to take his place.

The next bit was always going to be working out a deal whether the ratepayers had the stomach for it or not.

Ultimately though, if this is the final chapter in the Stanton saga, then something worthwhile has been achieved.

If not then Custer lives to fight another day.