Rodney Local Board strikes identity crisis

Board members were split evenly on whether or not the term pākehā should be included in the consultation documents. An attempt to remove the word ‘pākehā’ from a consultation plan, on the soon-to-be-released draft Rodney Local Board Annual Plan, was defeated at a board meeting last week. Board member Geoff Upson tabled an amendment, asking that the ‘p’ word be removed from the list of ethnicity options submitters could tick. “I don’t want to say the word because some people find it offensive,” he said. However, board chair Guy Wishart said if he wasn’t specific in identifying the ‘p’ word as p...