February 10, 2016
Council blocks ears to Maori naming
New Plymouth District Council has rejected an attempt to attach Maori names to streets in a new Waitara subdivision.
Officials had recommended they be called Kaipeke Drive and Ngati Kura Road to acknowledge a pa site and local hapu.
Instead the council’s monitoring committee named them Dreaver Drive and Masters Lane, which developer Richard Dreaver said recognised family members who died in World War 1.
Trying to reverse that decision, councillor Howie Tamati told yesterday’s full council that European soldiers' names were historically used for street names in Waitara to remind Maori the land no longer belonged to them.
Extending that practice into the new subdivision showed a lack of respect for what was important to iwi and hapu today.
Mr Tamati said committee chair Craig McFarlane rushed through the decision, refusing to allow the iwi to address the November meeting.
The council rejected his motion 7 to 3.
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