ROSA WOODS
Tajzhay Pouwhare, 18, and other students at Wanuiomata High School started a petition to rename Lower Hutt street names in te reo Māori. (File photo)
Harry Martin Lane was named just five days ago but already its future is in doubt, with Lower Hutt mana whenua calling the decision to reject a Māori street name “disrespectful and hurtful”. Last Wednesday, Wainuiomata Community Board narrowly voted 3-2 to name its newest street after the Lower Hutt’s suburb’s one and only mayor, Harry Martin, who passed away in 2017. However, the decision has immediately come under fire, with mana whenua calling for cultural training for board members that rejected the Māori street name put forward.