Media Statement

Thursday, 8 November, 2012

Public Feedback Sought On Name Proposals In The South Island

The New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa (NZGB) has today opened public consultation for three proposals, submitted by Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, regarding the naming of three significant alpine features in the Aoraki / Mount Cook area of the South Island.

Seeking to change two existing names to dual names, and to assign a new name for a section of the main divide, the proposals were considered and accepted for public consultation by the NZGB at its most recent meeting on October 31.

“The NZGB has a statutory function to collect and encourage the use of original Māori names,” said NZGB Chair Dr Don Grant.

“The proposed original Māori names relate to fundamental creation stories that are part of oral tradition and are highly significant ancestral names to Ngāi Tahu, who are seeking to restore them to the appropriate geographic features.”

The proposals involve altering the names ‘Mount Cook Range’ to ‘Kirikirikatata / Mount Cook Range, ‘Tasman Glacier’ to ‘Haupapa / Tasman Glacier’, and assigning the name ‘Aroarokaehe Range’ to a currently unnamed section of the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana.

“In terms of dual naming, Ngāi Tahu have acknowledged the existing English names by proposing that they be retained. The NZGB has agreed to notify these proposals for three months, beginning in November 2012 and ending in mid-February 2013, to seek public submissions on whether people support or object to them.

“The NZGB will then consider all public submissions at its next meeting in early 2013, with final determinations to establish official names being made either by the NZGB or the Minister for Land Information New Zealand.”

To view the proposals, please visit http://www.linz.govt.nz/sites/default/files/docs/placenames/submission-reports/nzgb-proposal-report-alpine-names.pdf

For further information about geographic naming and the New Zealand Geographic Board visit the LINZ website for information about place naming and the New Zealand Geographic Board.

ENDS

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