Mayor wants Wanganui pronouncement on 'h'

Wanganui Mayor Michael Laws says changing Wanganui's name to include an "h" "Should not be achieved through the backdoor of a council committee, but only through the clear mandate of the Wanganui people".

Mr Laws said he was pleased that councillor Sue Pepperell had raised the issue and he respected her viewpoint.

"Sue has done a lot of research on the issue and brought her usual energy to the discussion. But for such a fundamental change to occur, then all of Wanganui needs to have its say and not just the privileged few.

"I believe Wanganui's name should stay as it is. That is the proper phonetic pronunciation. Maori was an oral language, and it was only the advent of Pakeha missionaries that saw it transcribed into written form. They spelled it without the 'h' because that was the local dialect of the Maori that were here.

"To add the 'h' would see the rest of the country mispronouncing our name as 'Fonga-nui'."

Mr Laws said councillors who had opposed the question going out to a district-wide referendum "can hardly turn around and change Wanganui's spelling by council resolution. That would be undemocratic. Councillors may like to review their decision in this light."

"I have no problem with the debate - in fact, I think it's healthy. But how we resolve this debate is critical."

- NZPA