Kerre Woodham: Ask iwi to solve problem

I don't know who I have greater sympathy for - the good folk of Tauranga or the gentle souls of Wanganui.

In the space of a year, Tauranga residents have had to deal with the unholy scrap between Winston Peters and Bob Clarkson, and more information about Clarkson's testicle than they ever wanted to know.

They've had a mad bomber in one of their hotels and a weather bomb wreaking chaos and leaving people homeless.

On the other hand, the people of Wanganui have had to endure a vicious slanging match between mayor Michael Laws and various sections of the population. Now they've become embroiled in a debate over whether to put an h in Wanganui.

This is a debate that will undoubtedly overshadow all other council business and will bring in every pointy head in the country with an opinion on te reo and/or the evolution of language.

I always thought that due to regional variations in dialect, local iwi pronounced Wanganui without the f sound so therefore missionaries transcribed the name of the town as a hard w, in much the same way Tariana Turia pronounces whanau as wa-nau. Others, however, have a different interpretation.

I think I have a solution. Seeing it's a Maori name, why not ask local iwi how it's meant to be pronounced and they can make the final ruling?