The mayor of the Wanganui District says his community will resist attempts to change the spelling of the city's name.
The New Zealand Geographic Board has voted unanimously in favour of adding "h" to Wanganui, saying board members were convinced by historical evidence that Wanganui's early settlers always intended the city's name to match that of Whanganui River.
But Wanganui mayor Michael Laws says that view is not backed by the historian his council employed to investigate the issue. He says the current spelling of Wanganui is 172 years old, and the "h" was left off to reflect the local Maori dialect.
Mr Laws says the Geographic Board's decision ignores the heritage and views of his community. He says he expects democracy will prevail, and the Government will not back the ruling.
He says the Prime Minister recently stated that locals should have the overwhelming input into the final decision. In 2006 and earlier this year, Wanganui District Council held referendums in which the majority of participants opposed changing the name.
Mr Laws says the council will be examining whether the board's decision was illegal.
Maori welcome recommendation
Wanganui Maori say they will now put pressure on the Government to go with the Geographic Board's decision.
The spokesperson for Te Runanga Tupoho and Te Iwi o Whanganui, Ken Mair, says he's been fighting for the change for two decades, and many of his relatives fought for it before him. He says the issue is simply about spelling someone's name correctly, out of respect.
Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia has also applauded the decision, saying there were many sound reasons put forward to the board for it - such as honouring the area's oral history, and the fact there is no such word as "wanga" in the Maori lexicon.
She says the challenge now is to get the region together to understand the significance of the decision.
The last word
The final decision on whether to change the name rests with the Minister for Land Information, Maurice Williamson.
Mr Williamson expects to receive the board's report containing the reasons for its decision and a summary of the submissions in the next few weeks. He says he will consider it carefully before deciding whether to accept, modify or reject the board's decision.
