The not-yet sealed Ngāi Tū Lane, which will have 12 new homes off Ford Street, gets a bit of a clean-up before workers finish for the day. Photo / Diane McCarthy
A cul-de-sac for the 17 new homes in the subdivision at 3a-7 Balneavis Place and 79 Brabant Street will be called Pākōwhai Crescent.
Pākōwhai was identified by iwi authority Te Tāwharau o Te Whakatōhea as the original name of the village at the site of the present-day Ōpōtiki township.
A report to the council said the village was bombed during the Crown invasion of September 1865, an event that contributed to the subsequent confiscation of Whakatōhea lands through raupatu.
The 12 new homes at the subdivision at 52-54 Ford St has Ngāi Tū Lane.
Ngāi Tū is an ancient tribe that four Whakatōhea hapū that have traditional and customary occupation of Ōpōtiki township whakapapa from.
The new lane created at 47 Buchanan St by Whakaatu Whanaunga Trust, with 10 new homes will have the road name Hou o te Rangi Lane. The name was given by Whakatōhea’s Taumata/kaumātua group and members of Ngāti Ngahere hapū.
Hou o te Rangi was an ancestor of mana and held in high regard by Te Whakatōhea. The land the new subdivision sits on has significance to this ancestor.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.