Place Name Decisions

15 May 2008

15 May 2008: Media release

At its April 2008 meeting, the New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa (NZGB) signalled its intention to alter or assign a number of New Zealand place names, and noted final decisions on others, including a number of names in the Ross Sea region, Antarctica, where New Zealand shares naming rights with the United States of America.

New place name submissions

The NZGB considered several new place name submissions, including:

  • assigning the name Te Motu o Poutoa to an historic pa site located on an elevated area of the left bank of the Manawatu River. The site covers Anzac park and overlooks Palmerston North, and is not named on current mapping.
  • altering the spelling of Elliot Peak (a mountain located in the range two kilometres south of Okiwi Bay, Croisilles Harbour, Marlborough Sounds) to Elliott Peak in recognition that the peak was named after Charles Elliott, a prominent early British settler in Nelson, and founder and proprietor of Nelson's first newspaper, the Nelson Examiner.
  • updating the dual-naming of Rangitoto ki te Tonga (D'Urville Island) in the Marlborough Sounds to Rangitoto ki te Tonga/D'Urville Island. This updates the name to the correct official dual naming format adopted by New Zealand.

Any member of the public can object to these intentions to assign by writing to the Secretary of the NZGB by 15 August 2008 and setting out the grounds for their objection.

If objections are received, the Land Information Minister will make a final decision at a later date. If no objections are received, these proposed place names become final after the three-month objection period ends on 15 August 2008, and take effect as official New Zealand place names on a date specified in the New Zealand Gazette.

Final place names

The NZGB also noted a significant number of place name intentions from its earlier November 2007 meeting that have now become final. These took effect as official place names on 15 May 2008 and include:

  • altering the spelling of Lake Daniells, northeast of Springs Junction, to Lake Daniell.
  • assigning the name of Kaitiaki Peak, in the Mount Cook Range above Ball Pass. The feature is not named on current maps.

Place names in the Ross Sea region, Antarctica

The NZGB also made final decisions on a number of place names in the Ross Sea region of Antarctica. Along with the United States, New Zealand has naming rights in the region.

As well as recognising a number of United States-named features in the area, the NZGB recognised several names that had been previously approved but never officially notified in the New Zealand Gazette. As an example, the NZGB recognised The Cocked Hat, a bluff-type mountain in the Saint Johns Range, Victoria land. The name had been published in the Provisional Gazetteer of the Ross Dependency in 1958 as a 1910-1913 British Antarctic Expedition name.

For more information

You can find out about the Decision of The New Zealand Geographic Board
Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa 15 May 2008 and about the New Zealand Geographic Board.

Media enquiries: Contact LINZ, Land Information New Zealand, phone +64 4 460 0110, email
top