The Wanaka Community Board resolved last week to oppose the New Zealand Geographic Board's proposal to put a macron - long vowel sound - over the first "a" in the place name "Hawea".
The change has come about because the Department of Conservation recently included a macron in the official name for the Hawea Conservation Park.
The park name was gazetted so it is now a Crown protected name.
That has forced the board and Land Information New Zealand to consider altering the word Hawea in place names so it has a macron.
The community board's submission opposing the change will address the costs of changing signs throughout the district.
The Lake Hawea Community Association also discussed the issue recently and has decided to write a submission pointing out most members consider the change unnecessary and that adding a macron was unlikely to influence the present generation of residents to pronounce the word properly.
The board members also discussed whether a macron would encourage district newcomers to stop saying "Hi-wee-ar" (incorrect emphasis on the second syllable).
Hawea is supposed to be pronounced with a long "a" sound on the first syllable and without any emphasis on the second syllable.
Jude Battson, who represents Lake Hawea on the board, said it could be emotive discussing changes and Maori people might say the spelling had nothing to do with non-Maori people.
"But once you get past the emotion of it all, the cost of it is paramount to the Lake Hawea Community Association resisting it," Ms Battson said.
It was "right and proper" for the issue to be brought up but she asked if people would or could type the macron.
"There could be a lot of money we could spend on this that we could be using to reduce our debt," Ms Battson said.
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Clive Geddes said the tension that arose recently in Wanganui occurred because the correct spelling (Whanganui) was not used in any official sense.
But it was important to be pragmatic, he said.
"You will probably not get people to pronounce it properly, even with a macron on top. And if other place names exist that should also have macrons on top, you can see the attendant cost going on and on and on.
"This is not about being counter-cultural. We are dealing with things in 2009. This name has been in place since the early settlers arrived and were trying to understand - because there was no written [Maori] language - what the meaning [of Hawea] was," Mr Geddes said.