Decisions have been reached on proposals to change 12 place names around New Zealand.
Proposals to change the names of Wellington’s Petone and Manawatū-Whanganui’s National Park village were among those considered.
The Minister for Land Information Chris Penk made the determinations on these proposals in his statutory role as final decision maker.
Petone will remain Petone, The Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa New Zealand Geographic Board said in a release. The proposal to change its name to Pito One was declined.
But National Park village will be renamed to Waimarino, which is “the original Māori name for the area and refers to calm waters pooling on the plains as they come down from the mountain”.
More than 2500 submissions were received on an iwi bid to have National Park Village and its railway station renamed.
However, the station’s keeping its name. The proposal to rename National Park Station to Waimarino Railway Station was declined.
Another proposal considered by the board was whether Auckland’s Takanini should be renamed Takaanini – the change was declined.
A full list of place name decisions announced today from the Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa New Zealand Geographic Board can be found here.
According to Local Democracy Reporting, a name change can be approved outright by the New Zealand Geographic Board if there are no submissions or only supporting submissions.
If a submission objecting to the name is upheld by the board, it can make a final decision. However, if it doesn’t agree with objecting submissions it refers the proposal to the Minister for Land Information Chris Penk to make a determination.
A decision on a proposal to rename Russell to Kororāreka is expected next year.