Saga of city with no name must end

There must be a reason why, as you enter Wanganui along Great North Rd, the sign proclaiming you are entering the city limits and the regulated 50km/h zone fails to carry a name.

Put simply, it is because Wanganui - or Whanganui, depending on your preference - doesn't actually have an official title.

Does anyone else find this more than a little odd? How many other centres of 40,000-plus population in the world suffer such a lack of identity? Farcical it may be, but there could well be a politically expedient reason for the seemingly endless delay in finalising the two - yes, two! - official names for our city.

For those who don't fully recall, it was in December 2009 that Land Information Minister Maurice Williamson blew into town to deliver the much anticipated news on the city's official name. His appearance came after the Geographic Board declared that this city had no name, a situation which led to him ruling that the River City should have alternative names: Wanganui and Whanganui.

But despite the two options, officially this is the nameless centre, the city without a moniker.

Why? Because the Government has not seen fit to pass enacting legislation that will enable the board to gazette the two names Mr Williamson declared the city would have; alternatives to use as residents saw fit depending on which side of the fence they sit regarding what has become known as the H issue.

At the time the non-decision was little more than a cop-out designed to appease the traditionalists who wanted no change of name, but also to the aggrieved parties who wanted to right a historical wrong.

It seems an utter nonsense that a city so replete with heritage and history should be stuck in the middle of such a fiasco. It has even filtered down to the way city hall markets the region as a tourist destination.

Uncertainty and division do not foster progressive societies; we need to be able to move forward with certainty.

As we close in on the final months of 2011, it is simply unacceptable that we are still waiting for the decision, such as it was, to be formalised. Our civic leaders are right - action needs to happen and it needs to happen now. Otherwise, what's the alternative?

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