Park named after Vietnam veteran
Sands said that probably reflected the longstanding government and public antipathy to the Vietnam War.
However, a "healing process" had since begun and the council had relented.
Parekura received a mention in dispatches for saving the life of a fellow Kiwi soldier in Vietnam in 1971. He served there as a rifleman for most of that year.
Parekura joined the army in 1969 and retired, with the rank of warrant officer, in 1989. His death in 2004 was attributed to being soaked in Agent Orange while on jungle patrol.
Doreen Parekura said the naming of the reserve was "a privilege" for her husband and their family.
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