The Wanganui District Council has voted to recommend that no change be made to the spelling of Wanganui when the New Zealand Geographic Board meets to debate changing the city's name to Whanganui next month.
But the vote was closer than Mayor Michael Laws had been expecting, with five councillors refusing to endorse the motion.
Nicki Higgie, Rangi Wills, Philippa Baker-Hogan, Rana Waitai and Rob Vinsen made their case for including the "h" in front of their fellow councillors and dozens of iwi and community members who had marched to city hall from Moutoa Gardens.
Seven councillors and the Mayor voted against changing the city's name.
Cr Waitai argued the current name was symptomatic of the historical marginalisation of the Maori language, and the current misspelling was no different than historical cases of teachers changing Maori students' names because they were too difficult to pronounce.
"In its current form it simply has no linguistic meaning.
"The word Whanganui has linguistic meaning as a large harbour, which is quite obvious when you consider the geography." He said a name change should be seen as correcting a historical inaccuracy, rather than bending to the whims of radicals.
Cr Wills said he was "ashamed" the issue had been put to the public during Referendum '06, and it was no surprise more than 80 per cent of Wanganui residents had voted to retain the current spelling.
"This is a cultural issue and it has nothing to do with the majority of the community imposing their view . on a minority."
Maori were the experts on their own language and it was obvious the current spelling was a mistake, Cr Vinsen said. Cr Baker-Hogan and Cr Higgie said they had great faith in the local community to overcome the debate and see a name change as a positive thing.
Several who voted for the name change acknowledged they could lose votes as a result of their position but felt changing the name was the right thing to do.
Mr Laws, who said before the meeting he did not expect any councillors to support the name change, said he was obliged to uphold the views of the community, as expressed in Referendum 06.
It would be improper to change a name after it had been in common use for more than a century, he argued.
"Wanganui is not a Maori name. It has assumed an identity, a heritage, a history and a mana of its own."
Cr Barbara Bullock said she was elected to represent the views of the community, as expressed during the referendum process, and not to give her personal opinions.
After the meeting, Mr Laws said he was proud of his colleagues.
"This was a debate that had the potential to become emotional and difficult, and it did not."
Ken Mair, spokesperson for Wanganui iwi Te Runanga o Tupoho, said the dissenting votes of five councillors made it very clear there was momentum in the community for a name change.
He said the final result was not unexpected, but it was comforting to see elected officials take an unpopular stance.
The New Zealand Geographic Board will hear Tupoho's submission to change the name on March 27, with a decision expected shortly after.
PICTURED: Whanganui iwi, Ngati Apa and Ngarauru and the two iwi incorporations, Atihau Whanganui and Morikaunui, were joined on their march from Pakaitore/Moutoa Gardens to the Wanganui District Council in support of putting the letter "h" in Wanganui.
Council split over 'H' in Wanganui
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