Petanque Taieri treasurer and former president Richard Hambleton says he thought he had sent the remarks from his personal account and they had nothing to do with the club.
When first contacted, Mr Hambleton stood by his comments but called back later to say he was "immediately resigning" from his positions at the club.
"And you can feel very proud of yourself, and the ODT with it.
"Continue being a woke organisation, mate — you’re unbelievable."
The email was sent on Tuesday in reply to Taieri Network about submissions on the Dunedin City Council’s Mosgiel recreation area management plan review.
The network’s email detailed proposed changes to the plan, which included mana whenua integration that involved enhancing cultural interpretation through storytelling projects and recognising Kai Tahu cultural heritage in the design of a reserve.
"Hi, if you insist on using the invented maori [sic] language rubbish please at least use the understood English first," Mr Hambleton wrote.
"Your documents should not be an avenue to force feed maori.
"Cheers Richard (Dunedin Ratepayer)."
A member of the club, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Otago Daily Times the comments were "racist" and "disgusting", and they were planning on leaving the club
as a result.
Despite hearing of Mr Hambleton’s plans to resign, they said their views had not changed.
"There’s still been no apology. There’s still been no retraction."
When first contacted, Mr Hambleton confirmed he had sent the response.
He had read the email on his iPad and "hit reply" believing he was sending it from his own account, not realising it was going to club members.
"Had I an opportunity to redo it, I would ensure that it came from my personal account, not Petanque Taieri’s.
"It is not anything to do with Petanque Taieri. It is an error on my part of not having checked where that email was coming from."
He did not agree the Māori language should "have preference" over English, and took issue with public servants "taking it upon themselves to try and teach us a language that we may not...wish to learn" and with organisations including Māori references he did not understand.
His intention was to express an opinion to a local government body, and he would be concerned if he had caused offence, Mr Hambleton said.
But he did not see "anything that anybody would need to apologise for saying" in what was said, Mr Hambleton said.
He was "absolutely gobsmacked" the ODT would spend time "on something which is actually a storm in a teacup".
A spokeswoman for Taieri Network declined to comment.
The email was forwarded to members of the club, one of whom replied saying it was "not in any way" the views of the committee or club members and called for the comments to be retracted.
"We are entitled to our own opinion, but not vented on a club email," they said.
Emails between members, whom the ODT has chosen not to name, said they were "pretty shocked" when they saw the remarks and had contacted Taieri Network to assure the group they did not reflect the opinions of club members.
