Performance

Statistics on proposals and decisions of the Board

The following table shows the type and number of place name decisions made by the Board. Data from the April and September 2008 meetings, though outside the formal reporting period covered by this report, is included because many proposals at these meetings were discussed at subsequent meetings, for example names deferred for further information, or names that moved from proposals to a final decision by the Board.

Legislation:	1946 Act		2008 Act
Board meeting/Decision date	2008 7 April	2008 12 Sept	2008 20 Nov	2009 27 March
Final/Official Geographic Name (Board Decision)	15	5
Minister’s Final Decision	1	2
Intentions/Public Notification	7			27
Corrigendum (Correction of Errors)				4
Treaty of Waitangi Settlement Place Names	8		6
Antarctic Place Names	39
Deferrals	18			22
Declined	7			10
Under Investigation	2
Awaiting Consideration
Withdrawn				1
Names Noted by Board				2
Recorded Approved				1
TOTAL	97	7	6	67

Delegation of decisions on Crown protected area names

On 27 March 2009, the Board resolved to delegate to the Secretary all ‘review’ and ‘concurrence’ decisions for Crown protected area name proposals submitted by the Department of Conservation, subject to certain conditions. Four proposals were received from the Department. Decisions on these were made by the Secretary, in terms of the Board’s interim standard for Crown protected area names.

Interim standards for place names

Board deliberations on proposals to assign, amend, approve, alter or discontinue official or recorded names are carried out in accordance with specified criteria. Two interim standards were published on the LINZ website to provide submitters with clarity regarding how their proposals will be evaluated:

• Interim standard for undersea feature names, (effective 13 March 2009)
• Interim standard for Crown protected area names, (effective 20 May 2009).

Full standards

Work began on the following standards, which are due to be completed by 2010/11, with input from relevant experts and organisations:

• Code of practice for suburb and locality naming
• Standard for Antarctic naming
• Standard for New Zealand naming (territorial and terrestrial).

Publications – Oral History Atlas

The Board’s publication He Korero Pūrākau Mo Ngā Taunahanahatanga a Ngā Tūpuna, Place Names of the Ancestors, A Māori Oral History Atlas was first published in 1990. While it has been out of print for some years it has remained in constant demand. The atlas and its companion handbook were made available on the LINZ website earlier this year and 1500 copies were reprinted.

Treaty names and updated protocol with Office of Treaty Settlements

The Office of Treaty Settlements (OTS) asked the Board to gazette official Treaty names after the enactment of settlement legislation, with a proviso that any future changes only proceed with the consent of the mandated iwi authority.

The following Treaty settlement names were gazetted under this new process:

• six Northland place name alterations as part of a Treaty settlement for Te Roroa, and
• two Rotorua place names through the settlement for Affiliate Te Arawa Iwi and Hapu.

The Board expects a significant rise in the number of Treaty settlement place names over the next few years with the Government seeking to settle all Treaty claims by 2014. Version 3 of the Relationship Protocol between the Board and OTS was agreed on 20 April 2009.

This version of the protocol:

• strengthens the confidentiality of information;
• places a requirement on OTS to seek advice from Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (Māori Language Commission); and
• provides for the Board to consult with neighbouring iwi where appropriate.

Protocol for Māori place names

During the review of the 1946 legislation, Cabinet agreed that primary responsibility for iwi consultation on geographic names under Board jurisdiction be dealt with by the Board rather than Te Puni Kōkiri (Ministry of Māori Development). It was also agreed that the existing Protocol for Māori Place Names be revised to take into account direct Board/iwi consultation, and that an exchange of letters with Ngāti Ruanui and Ngāti Tama (providing they agree) record the change from direct Te Puni Kōkiri involvement with geographic names as intended in their deeds of settlement.

The following documents were drafted for the Board to consider when it meets in September 2009:

• new guidelines for dialogue between the Board and iwi
• an updated protocol for Māori place names
• a new relationship protocol between the Board and Te Puni Kōkiri, and
• a new Memorandum of Understanding between the Board and Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (Māori Language Commission).

Gazetteer database project

Planning has begun to develop a full Gazetteer database. Steps include obtaining user requirements, design, build, user acceptance testing, data migration/cleansing, training, and communications. It is possible that the whole project will be completed by mid-2010. A full Gazetteer database is needed to:

• securely record place name information
• provide place name information as required by the new Act (including annual reports to the Minister)
• be efficiently used by government agencies (including LINZ Customer Services) and private organisations to comply with the new Act
• enable people to effectively discover official and historic place name information thereby allowing them to comply with the law, and
• enable people to efficiently obtain place name information thereby reducing the number of enquiries to the Board’s Secretariat.

Place naming policy matters

In addition to its primary role to process place name proposals and submissions, the Board provides advice and decisions on policy, guidelines and practices. The Board considered the following:

• hyphens in Māori place names
• convention for order of stream branches
• guideline for numerals or full word, eg 12 or twelve
• practice for St or Saint (honorific) and other abbreviation standards, and
• dual name depiction guidelines – space either side of solidus, font and style, co-naming.

International liaison

The Board continued to cooperate with a range of international naming organisations on Antarctic, regional and global place naming and conventions.

Committee for Geographical Names of Australasia (CGNA)

This is a working group under the Intergovernmental Committee for Surveying and Mapping (ICSM) – which is itself a standing committee of the Australia New Zealand Land Information Council (ANZLIC). Membership of CGNA is very beneficial and provides an opportunity to discuss, debate and resolve or agree to disagree on issues that are faced in the field of toponymy. The Secretary’s involvement with CGNA includes the following:

• attending the annual two day meeting on 9-10 October 2008 in Wollongong and presenting a jurisdictional report from New Zealand
• participating in a teleconference on 6 March 2009, and
• attending the next CGNA meeting scheduled for 7-8 October 2009 in Melbourne.

United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN)

This group upholds consistency and standardisation in place naming practices worldwide. The 25th UNGEGN Session was held in Nairobi, 5-12 May 2009. New Zealand did not attend but a country report was submitted along with copies of the Board's brochure and factsheet. The UNGEGN Chair had asked for the Secretary to become the Antarctic naming Liaison Officer for UNGEGN; while this was acknowledged as a great honour, it was declined because of budget and resourcing constraints. A New Zealand activities report and input to our Asia SE – Pacific SW Divisional Report was provided for this 25th Session.

Antarctic naming

The Board worked closely with its United States and Australian counterparts and was involved with the overarching Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), particularly contributing to the Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica. An agreement for naming in Australian territory is currently under negotiation.

Committee on Undersea Feature Naming

Liaison with the international Sub Committee on Undersea Feature Naming (SCUFN), which meets annually to consider such names, has been made more accessible with the appointment of a New Zealand representative to SCUFN. With the Board’s extended jurisdiction over the naming of undersea features on New Zealand’s continental shelf, there is likely to be significant work for the Board in the next few years.