Hastings’ bilingual road signs: Public opinion divided

Hastings District Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst (third from left) with Takitimu Māori ward councillors Ana Apatu (left), Kellie Jessup and Renata Nepe at the Downer depot in Hastings. Photo / Supplied

Opinions are divided on the Hastings District Council’s announcement it will add te reo place names to 20 road signs it is upgrading around the district.

The bilingual signs come as the council moves the town towards becoming a te reo Māori city by 2040. However, not everyone is happy about it and the council had to turn off comments on its Facebook post about the move.

When asked why the comments were turned off, a council spokesperson said although the Facebook post had “largely positive engagement”, it did generate some personal friction and, in line with the council’s social media policy, comments were turned off.

The council says its policy is to encourage discussion, but there are rules to keep its Facebook page a safe, respectful space including no offensive language, no personal attacks of any kind, trolling (deliberately instigating hostility or conflict to inflame a situation), and no inappropriate comments that target any group or individual based on their ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexual preference.

While there were a number of not-so-nice comment the Hastings Leader will not repeat, some people had concerns that adding the te reo naming to the signs would be a waste of money, time and resources.

However, the council said there had been plans in place to replace these 20 signs because they were in poor condition due to sun exposure over time, so adding te reo along with the English was an extra step that would also address parts of the council’s Heretaunga Ararau Te Reo Māori Action Plan.

The plan, adopted by the council in 2020, outlines a set of actions it will take to become a bilingual district by 2040.

The Hastings District Council’s relationships, responsiveness and heritage adviser team Te Tira Pou Ahurea ki Te Kaunihera ā-Rohe o Heretaunga, explained the actions in the plan support initiatives that normalise te reo Māori in the public realm.

Heretaunga Ararau Te Reo Māori Action Plan gives regard to Te Ture mō Te Reo Māori – The Māori Language Act 2016.

A Te Tira Pou Ahurea ki Te Kaunihera ā-Rohe o Heretaunga spokesperson said, “Dual place naming and bilingual signage make tangible the Māori histories that are so important to generate understanding and belonging to our place in the world.

“This is critically important to support our young residents who are learning these local Māori stories at school through the new local history curriculum introduced by the Ministry for Education, and as such there is a great level of support to realise a future that is balanced in its representation of te reo Māori and English.”

Some of the signs being replaced include a few in Havelock North, where the original te reo name is Karanema, which has also caused a debate in the social media comments on whether Karanema is the correct name or not.

“Mana whenua have lived upon Te Mata for at least a millennia, over that time there have been many names come and go for the area, which is why some people may know Havelock North by a different te reo Māori name.

“Some names have macro associations with the wider areas, and some names have micro associations with specific events or locations,” a Te Tira Pou Ahurea ki Te Kaunihera ā-Rohe o Heretaunga spokesperson explained.

However, when asked why Karanema was the correct te reo name for Havelock North a council spokesperson said, “At the time the township of Havelock was formed in the late 1850s, the area was officially known as Karanema, or more specifically the Karanema Reserve.”

Karanema was a son of Te Heipora who was a chieftainess of Heretaunga, referred to as a queen by Europeans, and the reserve area was set aside from the sale of the Te Mata block for her son and his family as a Māori reservation.