Chairperson's Report

It is with great pleasure that I submit this first annual report on the performance of the functions, duties, and powers of the New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa under the New Zealand Geographic Board (Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) Act 2008. This report covers the eight months to 30 June 2009 after the Act came into force.

As an independent statutory body of government, the Board is tasked with providing a sound framework and processes for official place naming, resulting in acceptable and enduring decisions and information that support government agencies and the New Zealand public for practical purposes (eg place naming for infrastructural planning, emergency response, recreation, and tourism). The Board balances the practical aspects of place naming with the cultural and heritage values associated with naming geographic features, which help give us our identity as New Zealanders.

The names of New Zealand places and features, such as mountains and rivers, as well as settlements and localities, refl ect the culture and shared heritage of all New Zealanders. Knowing the correct names for places and their location is important for people in everyday communications and activities, business transactions, and for emergency services to respond to incidents.

A milestone toward achieving the Board’s outcomes was reached when the New Zealand Geographic Board (Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) Act 2008 came into force on 1 November 2008, after more than five years of review.

While the former New Zealand Geographic Board Act 1946 was an enlightened piece of legislation for its time, an update was needed to improve its jurisdictional, consultative and administrative provisions.

The review of the Act aimed to:

• clarify the jurisdiction of the Board
• revise procedures for public participation in the place naming process
• consider the composition and membership of the Board
• ensure the provisions of the Act align more clearly with the Treaty of Waitangi, and
• modernise the Act’s administrative and procedural provisions.

The new Act strengthens the Board’s roles, enabling it to create new names, change or discontinue current ones, and approve recorded names. Details about the implementation of the new Act and transitional processing are covered in this report.

New Zealand’s place naming endeavours are noted internationally, and held in high regard by the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names, as well as the Committee for Geographical Names of Australasia.

I am pleased to be part of a diverse Board of high calibre in terms of scholarship, wisdom and collegiality in decision-making. I wish to thank the members for their participation and commitment, particularly during this year of transition to a new Act, but also with its share of challenging place naming considerations.