Letters to the editor: To change Greerton's name is to deny history

Greerton's main drag, Chadwick Rd. Photo / George Novak

The call to change the name of Greerton as an entity within greater Tauranga, is an attempt to deny history. Maybe not intentionally, but my point is that history cannot be denied, history is a fact, history is always there.

Once denied it is open to reappearance, very often in a distorted form to suit the whim and needs of the discoverer initially, but the case is then open to discussion and change.

That is what we have here.

The current name is Greerton. Use it but investigate its origins and make the results part of the history of the area, not something to sweep under the carpet. We do not have to accept the nicety of the origins, but we need to accept the facts of its origins.

Leave it alone, for a changing will not change the facts and that is what should be celebrated becoming part of the accepted history.

Changing to name to the supposed original is a form of denial and blurs the past,

A D Kirby
Papamoa

TV show perpetrates stereotypes

The television show Vegas perpetuates the Māori stereotype of drugs, alcohol, violence and dysfunctional whānau created by Once Were Warriors.

It's a one-dimensional approach to storytelling that promotes everything that is wrong with our Māori communities.

A drama series based on Te Arawa development and subsequent success of tourism to Rotorua would have been something to celebrate but equally, it probably doesn't make for compelling viewing.

Patrick Clarke
Rotorua

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