Road Naming No Longer In Contention

Sunday, 9 March 2025, 9:26 pm
Article: Diane McCarthy - Local Democracy Reporter

The naming of eight new roads created for subdivisions in the Whakatāne district were approved without any hitches on Thursday.

This was the first time any new roads had been named in the district since Whakatāne District Council adopted its new Road Naming and Addressing Policy in August last year.

The new policy requires developers to engage with the relevant iwi and hapū of an area about how road should be named.

Previously, conflicts about new road names have stretched out for years due to disagreements about names having relevance to the area. Acacia Avenue, off Bunyan Road, took five years from the time the developers first put the name forward until it was finally approved last year.

Transportation administration team leader Chris King-Hazel said although all the applications were received during the period that the road naming and addressing policy was being reviewed, they all follow the principles of the new policy.

One new subdivisions off Melville Road in Awakeri will be named Roberta Lane, after Roberta Rika, who was a significant member of the community and lived on the property for 50 years.

Four private roads off Withy Road will be named Kahu Lane, after the Australasian harrier hawk; Ruru Rise, after the native New Zealand owl or morepork; Rangipare Lane, a local ancestral female name relevant to Ngāti Awa and Iramoko Lane, after the Iramoko Marae, which adjoins the new road.

A new road at 685 Wainui Road will be named Panekaha Road after a Tūhoe chief who resided on the hill on the eastern side of Wainui Road.

A new road at 100 Stanley Road will be named Kererutahi Road, referencing an old pā site above the house on the corner of Stanley Road and directly above Wainui Road.

A road off 10 Burma Road will be named Burma Rise, though the property owners have requested that no sign be erected at this time. The property owners' preference had been not to have the road named but it is a requirement of the consent for development due to there being more than five properties off the road.

Councillor Nandor Tanczos commented that it was nice to have a road naming come before the committee and “for it not to be controversial”.

Councillor Tu O’Brien congratulated the transportation team.

“There has been a bit of controversy in the past (around road naming). This is a reflection of the work you have done because you have obviously been in touch with a lot of the iwi and the hapū. Thank you for that.

Councillor Andrew Iles said it was nice to see so much subdivision work coming through.

“Hopefully increasing our rating base as we go along.”

He hoped the new developments would result in some of the development contributions going toward road sealing.

“Especially up in this Withy Road subdivision. It’s been a tricky bit of road for many years.”

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