An iwi bid to have the central North Island village of National Park renamed Waimarino has been successful.
A second iwi proposal to change the name of the village railway station from National Park Station to Waimarino Railway Station has been declined.
Land Information Minister Chris Penk made the determinations in his statutory role as final decision maker.
The Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa New Zealand Geographic Board announced the decisions this morning.
Iwi representatives said Waimarino was the original Māori name for the area, referring to calm waters pooling on the plains as they came down from the mountain.
The proposal was to alter the unofficial recorded place name National Park to the official place name Waimarino, for the village at the intersection of State Highway 4 and State Highway 47, on the western edge of Tongariro National Park.
More than 2500 submissions were received.
At its hui on April 30, the Geographic Board considered a report on the submissions.
Because the board didn’t agree with the objecting submissions received, it requested the Minister for Land Information to make the final determination.
The chair of iwi collective Te Korowai o Wainuiārua, Aiden Gilbert, said the name change was good news and would be celebrated by the three iwi Uenuku, Tamakana and Tamahaki.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Gilbert said.
“Well done to the minister and his advisors for reverting to the original name.
“If you’re looking at it from a historical perspective, it’s the right decision.”
Gilbert said official recognition of the original name was “very positive” for the iwi.
“The name for that place is part of our historical narrative. Recognising it just adds another missing piece to the understanding of our historical landscape.
“Congratulations to Waimarino village.”
The chairperson of the local business association, lodge owner Andrea Messenger, said the name change was “just a small part of a bigger picture”.
“It is one step forward, not a backwards or a sideways step.
“There are a lot of mixed emotions but I don’t think business is going to change too much.”
Messenger said there would be some confusion as the name Waimarino was rolled out to the rest of the globe as the village’s new identity.
“Everybody is on the internet researching where they want to travel to, and that’s where the confusion’s going to come, especially with Raetihi having a lot of primary buildings with the name Waimarino and being only 30 minutes away.
“Change is not going to happen overnight – it’s going to take a generation to roll this out.”
Earlier this month, the business association pre-empted the name change with a change of its own, switching from National Park Village Business Association to Tongariro National Park Villages Business Association.
“Our association encompasses quite a few villages – Erua, Raurimu, Whakapapa and this village,” Messenger said.
The Minister ruled on proposals to change 12 place names around the country.
He declined a proposal by Rangitīkei District Council to add a macron to change Rangitikei District to Rangitīkei District.
A proposal to alter Manawatu District to Manawatū District (by adding a macron) was also declined.
But a Manawatu District Council proposal to name a new suburb of Feilding as Maewa has been approved.
The proposal was to extend the existing locality of Maewa to include a future housing development currently referred to as Precinct 4, and to formalise it as an official suburb of Feilding.
Maewa was an original Māori place name which Ngāti Kauwhata gifted to the council for the suburb. It meant “to meander” and described the waterway that began as a puna (spring) at the currently locality and flowed east into Makino Stream.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
