July 07, 2026
New Māori road names have been
approved for three new subdivisions in Ōpōtiki that are
providing 37 new homes for the town.
Pākōwhai
Crescent, Hou o Te Rangi Lane and Ngāti Tū Lane will take
their place among the 60-odd street names in the township,
the vast majority of which are named for the Europeans that
settled the area.
Social housing provider Kāinga Ora
Homes and Communities and Whakaatu Whanaunga Trust made
applications to Ōpōtiki District Council for approval of
the names in order to complete final delivery requirements
for the new homes, which were approved on Monday.
The
naming was done in accordance with the council’s road
naming policy, which requires names to reflect local
cultural history.
The names have been chosen with
input from mana whenua and represent historic names
associated with Whakatōhea.
A cul-de-sac for the 17
new homes in the subdivision at 3a-7 Balneavis Place and 79
Brabant Street will be called Pākōwhai
Crescent.
Pākōwhai was identified by iwi authority
Te Tāwharau o Te Whakatōhea as the original name of the
village at the site of present-day Ōpōtiki
township.
A report to the council said the village was
bombed during the Crown invasion of September 1865, an event
that contributed to the subsequent confiscation of
Whakatōhea lands through raupatu.
The 12 new homes at
the subdivision at 52-54 Ford Street has a new lane called
Ngāi Tū Lane.
Ngāi Tū is an ancient tribe that
four Whakatōhea hapū that have traditional and customary
occupation of Ōpōtiki township whakapapa from.
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The
new lane created at 47 Buchanan Street by Whakaatu Whanaunga
Trust, with 10 new homes will have the road name Hou o te
Rangi Lane.
The name was given by Whakatōhea’s
Taumata/Kaumatua group and members of Ngāti Ngahere
hapū.
Hou o te Rangi was an ancestor of mana and held
in high regard by Te Whakatōhea.
The land the new
subdivision sits on has significance to this
ancestor.
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