The names used in a new housing development at Stoneham Park in Kawerau tell the story of the area’s history and whakapapa.
Tūwharetoa mai Kawerau ki te Tai gifted the names, with Kawerau District adopting them at a meeting this week.
The development is to be named Manaia.
Manaia is the name given to the iwi’s eponymous chief, Tūwharetoa, at his birth.
Street names Rākei Marama Road, Manaia Wharepū Drive, and Hinewhariua Place, reflect the firstborn offspring from each of Tūwharetoa’s three wives.
Rākei Marama was his first-born son with his first wife, Uira; Manaia Wharepū was his first-born daughter with second wife, Paekitawhiti; and Hinewhariua was his first-born daughter of third wife, Hinemotu.
The names were put forward by the council’s iwi liason and cultural advisor Te Haukakawa Te Rire, who explained the significance of the names at this week’s meeting.
The Tūwharetoa Mai Kawerau ki te Tai trustees and Tohia, Ōniao, Hahuru and Umutahi marae chairs have confirmed their support of the names.
The family of the park’s original namesake, former Kawerau mayor Roy Stoneham, have also been consulted and given their support for the renaming.
The Stoneham Walk area will continue to honour the Stoneham name.
A further four names have been proposed as options for the naming of the three small lanes within the development. These names come from influential local ministers in Kawerau from the 1940s and 1950s.
They are Kihora Te Puawhe, Tukiwaho Te Riini, Reverend John Laughton and Jean Margaret Milroy.
As John Laughton Place in the neighbouring Whakatāne district already honoured Laughton, the council provided direction to staff that they would prefer to use the remaining three names.
The Kawerau council is leading the development, having been actively involved in developing land for residential development since 2018.
It has previously developed the Central Cove subdivision and Porritt Glade Lifestyle Village (now renamed Malcolm Campbell Lifestyle Village).
Earthworks for the Manaia development was to have begun earlier this year, however there have been delays in being granted resource consent.
A recent update to the projects and services committee said consenting for an upstream bund was in process.
Results of soil contamination testing had required more thorough testing to be carried out to ascertain any mitigation required from previous farming of the area. Some tree removal had begun on the site.
A further road name adopted at the meeting was Taunaha Road. The road naming request came from Ngāti Tūwharetoa Holdings for a private road on land owned by the iwi organisation.
The organisation is developing six industrial sites beside Tamarangi Drive which will be accessed from the newly named road off Spencer Avenue.
Tunui said the adoption of the road name was largely procedural as Ngāti Tūwharetoa kaumatua had named the road during the blessing of the land prior to work commencing.
The road also leads to the Eastland Generation TOPP2 geothermal energy plant on land belonging to the iwi.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
