Turangi street names to change

MEDIA RELEASE

28 August 2012

The Turangi Tongariro Community Board is recommending Council change a number of street names in Turangi after discussions with local hapu.

Fourteen street names and three park names will be changed to incorporate Ngati Turangitukua whakapapa as part of a board agreement following the 1998 Treaty of Waitangi Settlement. The changes will also correct spelling errors made in the past.

The board was approached in 2010 by Ngati Turangitukua to follow through on previous board discussions to change the names.

In 1963, the Ministry of Works approached the Turangitukua Marae Committee, asking them to put forward street names for Turangi. The hapu’s wishes were granted in part, however, the Ministry of Works removed the ‘Te’ off the front of several street names and did not use some proposed names. They replaced them with the names of engineers who worked on the Tongariro power development.

Local hapu say the dropping of the ‘Te’ from some street names and shortening others degrades the value placed on the names and what they mean to the community.

Turangitukua Maori Committee Chairman Jeffrey Bennett says they are keen to see the errors made in the past rectified. “It’s not about the amount of work the engineers have done,” he says. “It’s to rectify some of the spelling mistakes on the names of some of our tupuna.”

The engineers who were named on the street signs previously are likely to be honoured in Turangi in another way.

The board has been working collaboratively with the hapu and believes it is a good thing for the community as it fulfils a promise made several years ago. “I think we’re a happier community for it. I’m just so pleased that we’re able to co-operate with each other,” Mr Bennett says. “We’ve put our relationship on a new footing really, and I think it’s going to be positive for all of us.”
Board Chairman Gary Keepa says he expects the town will cope with the changes. “A lot of them don’t mind what the names of the streets are,” he says. He says it is good the board and hapu are able to work together.

It is estimated that replacing the signs will cost $2,500, which will be partly funded from this year’s Council budget with the rest planned into next year’s.

The new signs will go up alongside the original signs for a six-month period shortly after the changes are approved, before the old signs are taken down. While there is dual signage in place, Council will work with affected businesses to assess the potential impact of the changes.

The street names that will be changed are as follows:

ENDS

© Scoop Media