Anger at Maori roading names

Plans for renaming part of State Highway 1 have been blasted for offering ‘‘unpronounceable’’ Maori words and over-complicating a simple strip of asphalt.

Some have called it ‘‘PC-gone haywire’’, while others say it’s just part of being a Kiwi.

About 18 kilometres of SH1 are set to become local roads after being superseded by the $630 million Kapiti expressway, north of Wellington.

Kapiti Coast District Council’s plan to split the continuous road into seven sections and give it seven Maori names has generated 400 public submissions.

The Maori names have been slammed as too difficult to pronounce by some. But Kapiti Mayor K Gurunathan says most people know the say the All Blacks’ Ka Mate haka, so can they can probably learn a few more.

The proposed names are: Matene Te Whiwhi Rd, Katu Rd, Unaiki Rd, Kakakura Rd, Rauoterangi Rd, Hurumutu Rd, and Hokowhitu Rd.

Paraparaumu man Mike Judd said there should be one name for the old SH1, and he believed some of the proposed new Maori names were too difficult to pronounce.

The country needed to stop ‘‘looking back over our shoulders’’ at past history and moved on, he said. ‘‘I’m not a racist. I’ve just come back from a family reunion where there’s a very big percentage of Maori, in my family.’’

Judd described the process to rename SH1 as ‘‘political correctness gone haywire’’. The sevensection approach was ridiculous, confusing and made a simple issue more complicated, he said.

Most of the highway was already known as Main Rd, Main Rd North and Main Rd South.

Waikanae’s Brian Wheeler said he preferred Main Rd be kept, with perhaps each nearest town added. The potential names were often unpronounceable and, to the general public, were ‘‘meaningless’’.

Six of the words were names of significant ancestors of Kapiti iwi, and one was the name of the native contingent that fought in World War 1.

Local iwi and te reo speaker Jack McDonald, the Green Party’s candidate for Te Tai Hauauru electorate, said the language was part of this nation’s collective history.

‘‘I would commend the council for taking this step. It’s a way of educating the community about our own local history.’’

A final decision on the road names will be made by councillors later this year.