For those who are against including macrons so Maori words can be pronounced correctly, your ignorance is exceeded only by your arrogance, who appointed you people the keepers of a language you cannot even speak. For those trying to keep the Maori language back in the 1820's when it was first written down. Again your ignorance is exceeded only by your arrogance. Who gave you the right to limit the progress of Maori language and culture to 19th century. For those enlightened people who support our progress in all areas thank you, you make our struggle against ignorance worthwhile.To the Mayor of KCDC good for you supporting this, you are an example Michael Laws would do well to emulate. For the ignorant and arrogant take a look at the population figures, the chances of your children and grandchildren marrying Maori are high, will you still critize us when you have family with Maori blood. We will be running the country within the next 20 years think on that before you throw your stones of ignorance.

I've had contact with some people from pacific island nations and the occasional Asian who due to their accent or whatever cannot pronounce the Ph in my name (Phil), instead it sounds more like pee-ill. I do not worry about this or try to correct them because I still know what they are saying and do not see it as a problem. As a White Man I speak with a White Man accent, I grew up on the east coast with lots of Maori at my school and none of us kids ever complained to each other about different accents, we all are who we are. Only now that I'm an adult do I hear people complain about it, and most of those people are white liberals with nothing better to moan about. New Zealand has various cultures from all around the world living here therefore there are a variety of accents. Usually the same people who moan about Maori place names are the same crowd who say lets celebrate cultural diversity and live in harmony. I suppose they think all citizens are equal but some are more equal than others.

Without distinguishing between short and long vowels, maori writing makes no sense. It is amazing that it's taking so long for NZ to wake up to this (or is it deliberate ignorance?)

I will still say the words as i have always done and no 'macron' will change that so why all the fuss over it, except the cost of all the new sigin's they will be making to line some ones pocket I wonder wonder who's?

As a Kāpiti ratepayer Im pleased with KCDC decision and common sense approach on this issue. I have no patience for redneck small minded and petty views. I want to live in a progressive and modern community.. and this samll but principled change sits quite nicely in that basket. Its a macron. The doomsdayers might like to take note - the sky hasnt fallen. Infact its looking pretty good from where i live on the coast.

My wife is a teacher and she, like me, didn't know what a macron was and I'd be willing to bet that not many others did either. We don't need it in our language!

If "Kapiti" is not pronounced as it written, AR #11, why did the settlers of this country spell it that way? Surely, if the correct pronunciation is Karpiti, that would have been how it was written in English by those who were translating the Maori language into English. I refer back to my comment on the pronunciation of Kaiwharawhara. The "wh" sound is not an "f" and nor does it sound like an "f". Which, what and where do not sound like fitch, fatt and fear, nor do they sound like witch, watt and wear but trying to get that through to some people would be near impossible. Incidentally, my high school French Language teacher was a Maori and she spoke six languages including Maori. I don't recall her ever pronouncing Otaki any way other than the way that is spelt. We should leave the spelling of Maori words as they are unless there is a valid reason for changing them.

Wow, all those dinosaurs out these having a moan. Oh my goodness, someone put a macron on our sign in the hope it might educate and/or assist a few people, whinge moan, whinge moan, etc etc. Macrons are already common and provide great help to those wishing to learn how to speak well. Of course, learning to speak well is likely anathema to quite a few people (who prefer to live in the dark ages of poor literacy and pronounciation). If the dinosaurs haven't noticed yet - Maori are achieving more and more influence in NZ as they are reproducing at a faster rate. Let's look to our future and leave the moaners behind, who needs such a negative bunch?

I can't work out why there's such a love of ignorance in the NZ population, like somehow being so poorly educated as to not even be able to speak place names properly is somehow just fine, especially when there are lot of poorly educated people who actually have no idea, so somehow it's all okay. People aren't even the slightest bit embarrassed that they can't pronounce NZ's only other official oral language, and when caught out, will claim vigorously that because everyone else they know is just as poorly educated that their way is the correct way. I've cringed many times when hearing'cap-ih-tee' (crikey!). They don't even appear to know that there is no such thing as an acute A in Maori. Even my 2 year old does better than that. Helping people to pronounce words correctly can hardly be bad, and if my children are less ignorant than the generation before then good job. As they say, there's none so dumb as those who don't want to learn.

What a lot of people don't realise is that Maori didn't have a written language before the white man came to Aotearoa and the spoken language also differed between tribes. So, peter pan #7, the joke is on you. Are there any Maori alive today who were around when the settlers arrived in the early 1800s and who can verify what the correct pronunciation of their language should be? I very much doubt it and that is why we have no right to change things, just because some left wing know-it-alls think that they know more than anyone else.