Oteake Conservation Park Place Name Report

Otago/Canterbury Conservancy border, Saint Bathans Range, Hawkdun Range, Ida Range, located inland from Oamaru.

General Background

Submitter

Otago Conservator, Department of Conservation.

Proposal

A new name to be assigned for a Crown Protected Area which will extend through a large ‘S’ shaped tract of mountain land along the border of Otago and Canterbury. The proposed CPA was approved by the Minister of Conservation; however, the decision has not been promulgated, due to an outstanding issue that could result in a very small change to the park boundary.

Documentation

Map showing the extent of the proposed CPA – see copy at the end of this report.

Consultation

Ngāi Tahu whanui were consulted, and provided the name ‘Oteake’ (lit. place of the ake), acknowledging the presence of a distinctive tree daisy, prominent in the gorges on both sides of the ranges of the proposed CPA.

Documentary evidence of consultation by way of a discussion document is included, which was prepared for public and key stakeholder consultation. DoC states that they have undertaken the public consultation required in terms of their legislation, the Conservation Act 1987. This meets the requirements of paragraph 5 of the interim standard for Crown protected area names – NZGBS60001.

Other

The LINZ database was checked by DoC on 15 December 2008, and no feature or place name duplications were found.

Review under Section 27(3) of the NZGB Act 2008

In respect to Crown Protected Area names, Sections 4, 10, 12, 15, 27 – 31 of the New Zealand Geographic Board (Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) Act 2008 specifically refer.

The proposed name for this CPA comprises both a specific name, ‘Oteake’ and a generic term, ‘Conservation Park’. The generic term appears in the list of approved generic terms for CPA names.

The proposal has been reviewed in terms of paragraph 4 of the interim standard for Crown protected area names – NZGBS60001, and the following comments refer:

Specific Names

(a) Existing names or names that are in common local usage should normally take precedence over new names.
The submitter has not advised of any existing names or names that are in common usage.

(b) Names should be associated with a geographic feature or place within or near to the CPA - not applicable.

(c) Generic geographic feature types may be included in the specific term - not applicable.

(d) Names may acknowledge predominant or significant flora, fauna, rock, soil, recreational activity or industry present within the CPA - the name acknowledges a distinctive native tree daisy which can be prominent in the gorges on both sides of the ranges. The name was known to a generation of kaumatua (circa. 1879/80) as one of a number of place names connected with mahika kai resources.

(e) Names may commemorate explorations, historical events or sites, or expeditions related to the CPA - not applicable.

(f) Names may recognise the priority of discovery of significant geographic features within the CPA- not applicable.

(g) Names may be used to honour the memory of significant persons associated with the CPA. Where CPA names are used for posthumous commemoration:

(i) surnames are preferable - not applicable

(ii) naming will be limited to those persons who have made an outstanding or fundamental contribution to conservation or cultural heritage matters - not applicable.

(iii) the person must have had a direct link with the area during their lifetime- not applicable.

(h) Names may be used to acknowledge associations involved in the proposal, planning, development, establishment, administration, and management of the CPA- not applicable.

(i) Names must be sufficiently distinct to avoid confusion with other named CPAs or unrelated named features and places- not applicable.

(j) Names should be short and simple - the name is concise and easy to enunciate.

(k) Names should use English or Te Reo Māori. If names in other languages are accepted then the name must be spelt using the roman endonym form of that language and not be anglicised - the proposed CPA name has a Te Reo Māori specific name and an English generic term.

(l) Names that reflect other officially named geographic features or places must use the same spelling as the existing official names - not applicable.

(m) Acronyms, abbreviations or numeric digits should not be used - not applicable.

Generic Terms

The Board must apply the following principles when reviewing and concurring with a proposal for an official CPA name.

(a) The generic term of a CPA name must state the type of area that is being named

(b) Generic terms should normally be selected from the list provided in Appendix A of the interim standard

(c) Generic terms not listed in Appendix A may be used with the agreement of the Board and the Department of Conservation where they have historically been used to describe a particular CPA

(d) Generic terms must not be abbreviated.

‘Conservation Park’ describes the type of area being named, being a conservation area held under s 19 Conservation Act 1987. It is not abbreviated, and is an approved generic term for CPA names.

Māori Names

The following principles must be applied to official CPA names that use Te Reo Māori.

(a) Where appropriate, names should use macrons to clarify their meaning and pronunciation - Ngāi Tahu did not seek macrons

(b) Word division should be shown where it is known to exist. The use of hyphens to connect either Māori or English names should be avoided - not applicable

(c) English generics may be added to Māori names to assist with emergency service/maritime safety response - not applicable

(d) Confirmation on the orthography of a Māori name should be sought from Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (the Māori Language Commission) - orthography and macrons were confirmed by TTW (Ms Tehaumihiata Mason) – Oteake is the spelling, with no macrons.

Unacceptable Names

The Board will generally not accept a proposal for an official CPA name that exhibits any of the following characteristics:

(a) misspelling

(b) named after living persons

(c) applied to similar areas elsewhere

(d) very long

(e) not euphonious

(f) full names or unwieldy titles of individuals, institutions or organisations

(g) named commercial products or their manufacturers

(h) named in relation to friends or relations of the individual proposing the name

(i) named in relation to the person proposing the name

(j) derogatory, discriminatory, offensive or in poor taste

(k) of persons occupying high offices who have not contributed directly and significantly to the CPA or who are in no way associated with the CPA

(l) of persons who have donated to or sponsored the creation of the CPA, whether living or dead, unless (g) and (h) under Specific Names above are appropriate.

(m) directional, qualifying or indistinct terminology (e.g. west, north, high, low, upper, lower, new, old)

(n) alternatives, aliases or abbreviations

(o) apostrophes or hyphens, and

(p) possessive form, although the possessive ‘s’ may be retained to preserve the euphony if apostrophes are not used.

The proposal does not exhibit any of the above characteristics.

Concurrence under Section 28 of the NZGB Act 2008

The Board is authorised to delegate any of its powers, functions and duties, generally or specifically, by resolution to a number of people including the Secretary of the Board (See Schedule 1 Clause 6 (1) (b) of the NZGB Act 2008). The delegation must be in writing to the person or committee and can be revoked in writing at any time.

At its meeting of 27 March 2009, the Board made the following resolution:

“For all Crown Protected Area name proposals submitted by the Department of Conservation, the ‘review’ and ‘concurrence’ decision making requirements under Section 27(3) and Section 28 of the NZGB Act 2008, are to be delegated to the Secretary, with the following conditions:

• If the Secretary does not concur, then the Board will be required to confirm the Secretary’s decision, before Section 29 is proceeded with; or
• If the Secretary is in any doubt about the ‘review’ and ‘concurrence’ decision, then the matter may be referred to the Board.

Moved: Dr Sir Tipene O’Regan
Seconded: Ms Sylvia Allan
All in favour
Carried."

Therefore, the decision of the Secretary for this proposal, acting under delegation by the Board, is as follows:

CONCUR with this proposal to assign a new name ‘Oteake Conservation Park’, based on this name meeting the interim standard for Crown protected area names under NZGBS60001.

Wendy Shaw, Secretary for the New Zealand
Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa

 

Process Once Concurred

i. The Secretary to advise DoC of concurrence decision.

ii. DoC to advise the Secretary whether the enactment under which the Crown protected area is named, requires DoC to notify the name in the New Zealand Gazette or include it in an enactment.

iii. If there is a notification requirement on DoC under ii above, then the Secretary need not give notice of the Crown protected area name in the New Zealand Gazette in accordance with section 21(2)(a) of the NZGB Act 2008, but must give notice of the name in accordance with section 21(2)(b) of the NZGB Act 2008 (i.e. no need to publish in the NZ Gazette, but must notify in newspapers or other publications – timing will occur with other batches of place names being processed). NZGB notification requirement costs are met by LINZ.

iv. If there is not a notification requirement on DoC under ii above, then the Secretary must give public notice of the name in accordance with section 21(2) of the NZGB Act 2008 (i.e. publish in the NZ Gazette and notify in newspapers or other publications – timing will occur with other batches of place names being processed). NZGB notification requirement costs are met by LINZ.

v. The Secretary will advise the Board of the concurrence decision at the next Board meeting.

vi. The Secretary will update the Gazetteer of Official Geographic Names, correspond with affected/interested parties, and undertake other administrative work.

vii. Note that in terms of Section 31 of the NZGB Act 2008, a name assigned to, or altered for, a Crown protected area in accordance with this subpart, is the official geographic name of that area.

Map

For a larger scale version of this map please refer to the pdf version of the Oteake Conservation Area place name report (pdf 2.65MB).

NZGB - Summary Report - Oteake Conservation Park - 2009-05-25, for review and concurrence under delegation.
LINZ file reference: GES-N15-07-09/253/01