Place Name Proposal Report - Whanganui

This page includes the relevant sections of the Whanganui Place Name Proposal Report considered by the Board at its meeting on 27 March 2009. Including:

• the proposal
• history
• previous consideration of the Board
• alternative name
• district council name
• community views
• map.

Other sections of the report are as follows:

• Consultation and correspondence
• Survey plans, cadastral/topographic maps, and historic land records
• Duplication, common usage, and examples of other misspelt names
• Linguistic/orthographic comment
• References
• Relevant policies and legislation.

A pdf version of this report is also available (pdf 2.21MB).

City (spelling alteration)

Proposal

The submitter is Te Rūnanga o Tupoho (submitted on their behalf by lawyers McCaw Lewis Chapman), who are seeking to correct the spelling for the name of the city (not the district) of ‘Wanganui’ to ‘Whanganui’. The proposal covers the following points:

1. that the logical next step after correcting the river name, is to correct the name for the city, which takes its name from the river;
2. early evidence of the intended spelling as Whanganui;
3. Waitangi Tribunal briefs of evidence by three separate claimant groups;
4. evidence of local and growing usage of Whanganui as the spelling used by organisations and businesses in the city.

The submitter also provided:

1. A written submission by Te Kenehi Mair on behalf of Te Rūnanga o Tupoho and Te Iwi o Whanganui;
2. A consultation/communication report;
3. A cultural report prepared by Che Wilson;
4. An historical report prepared by Bruce Stirling;
5. A Statement of Evidence by Rangi Wills (a current Wanganui Councillor) that was filed as part of the Wai 999/Te Poho o Matapihi hearings before the Waitangi Tribunal; and
6. Two historical maps referring to the town as Whanganui.

History

During the planning of the city (c.1850), it was originally set to be named Petre (pronounced Peter), but Wanganui soon came to be documented as the city’s name.

Information about whether the area over which the city was formed has an original Māori name, may need to be investigated. If it does not, then there may be no case for selecting an original Māori place name, and the argument then rests on whether the current spelling is incorrect. The Mayor argues that the name, Wanganui, is not a Māori name, but that its selection was influenced by a Māori word.

The reference book, ‘Old Whanganui’ by T W Downes, provides an excellent pre-European account of the Māori discovery and occupation of the district and river. Te Rūnanga o Tupoho’s oral history provides that their ancestor, Haunui, named Whanganui 600 years ago, and that it means great harbour or expanse of water.

Previous consideration of the Board

The Board’s views of 1991 should be noted, in particular the minutes of 8 February 1991 and the report to the Minister of 12 March 1991. See attached copies. Wanganui is classified as a recorded name – it has not been gazetted.

Alternative name

The Board’s dual naming convention, which recognises equal and special significance of both the original Māori and non-Māori names, within the community, does not apply. Possibly the Board’s policy on alternative naming might be able to be used, perhaps with a condition that over a specified period of time Wanganui could be dropped in favour of Whanganui.

District Council name

It is probable that most people can separate the river name from the city name, even though the latter historically derived its name from the former. The Board made this distinction in 1991. While this situation creates something of an anomaly or inconsistency, it is one that can be, and has been, lived with. However, it may be more difficult, in practical terms, for the general public to distinguish the city from what many would still call the City Council. If the final outcome is that the name of the city is changed (which the Board/Minister have statutory power to do), consideration should be given to what, in practical terms, this means for the Wanganui District Council, noting that the Board is expressly prevented from proactively changing the district name, without the Council’s consent (i.e. the Wanganui District Council would have jurisdiction over Whanganui City). The constitution of the Wanganui District Council by NZ Gazette 1989 page 2368 refers, and provides for it to be constituted for the Wanganui District, which comprises 6 wards (Waitotara, Parapara-Fordell, Westmere, Castlecliff, Central, and Matarawa). In 2007, the Local Government Commission carried out a review, and determined that the Wanganui Rural Community be divided into three subdivisions for election purposes, rather than wards: Kai Iwi (SO 386526), Whanganui (SO 386525) and Kaitoke (SO 386524).

Note that the Council resolved on 24 February 2009, not to change the name for the city and district.

Community views

A significant number of residents in the city of Wanganui (as per the 2006 referendum)¹ and the majority of District Councillors (8-5), do not support the spelling correction, and while the Board gives considerable weight to those views, it must also weigh those up against its statutory functions regarding spelling and original Māori place names. The process for place naming is not necessarily democratic, though past decisions of the Board have generally applied more weight to community views when considering the names of populated places. The comments in the brief of evidence by Ken Mair for Wai 903, page 10 refer: “we will not have the support of the council or the wider community”.

Map

For a larger scale version of this map please refer to the pdf version of the Whanganui proposal report (pdf 2.21MB),

¹At the 2007 local body elections, there were 30,643 enrolled electors in the Wanganui District. That means that just over half of electors participated in the 2006 referendum. So, the 82% of respondents who preferred the current name was about 46% of the enrolled electors.