Vote may flip in special meeting

new pedestrian crossing, and no-one disputed there were safety hazards, but he thought it could be done without removing options for motorists.

He believed his side of the vote would “hold the line” and thought bringing the issue back to the table without new designs was “the definition of insanity”, while colleague Debbie Mora went as far as to call it undemocratic.

However, Riccarton ward councillor Tyla Harrison-Hunt believed voting against the new design contradicted feedback from the public, and especially the views of people living or working in Church Corner. He said he called for another vote because he was confident it would succeed in the right conditions.

He said the March 14 stalemate happened over four hours after the meeting started, and after a tense – and at times fiery – discussion over whether the current board chairperson Helen Broughton should resign.

During that meeting, Broughton decided at the last minute to vote against the new Church Corner layout, making the vote 4 to 4 (which means nothing happens).

However, Broughton appeared confused that the vote failed, and told the room she wasn’t comfortable with the result.

Broughton told The Press this week she was not sure if she would vote differently, but she supported having the issue come back to the table.

Gamal Fouda, a Riccarton ward representative on the board, is the imam of the Al Noor mosque and did not attend the March 14 meeting, as it was the evening before the fifth anniversary of the March 15 terror attack.

However, he will attend the meeting on April 9 and may flip the vote.