Objectors claim Maori street name too hard to say

The name of a street in Havelock North is contentious for residents, but a local kaumatua is defending the choice, saying the name has historic importance for the area.
Te Heipora Place, off Arataki Rd, was named after the principal wife of Te Hapuku, an important chief in the area in the 1870s. Te Heipora owned a large area of land in the Havelock North area.
Residents objected at a naming and blessing ceremony yesterday morning because they had not been part of the naming process and some argued  the name was too unfamiliar and difficult to pronounce.
Kaumatua Jerry Hapuku said the name had great significance to the  area, and matched Karanema Dr, which was named after Te Heipora's son or grandson.
The iwi did not intend to compromise.
"We want this name on this street. It is how we feel as descendants," he said.
If residents wanted help pronouncing Te Heipora (tay hay-po-ra) Mr Hapuku was happy to visit them.
Pronunciation got easier with practice, he said.
Sue Beaver has owned a section on the street since February and said she was not consulted about naming the street Te Heipora. She told iwi representatives  the landowners would protest against the name.
The first time she became aware of the name was when her rates bill arrived this week.
"It is not a race issue, the problem is consultation," she said. "No one will be able to pronounce it."They're telling us it has gone through the emergency services process but how are emergency services going to find it if no one can say the name?"
Pukepuke Tangiora Huata, a descendent of Te Heipora, said it was good to see her ancestor acknowledged after so long and so many wrong doings of the past.
Mrs Huata, who is a fifth generation descendent of Te Heipora and Te Hapuku, said New Zealanders should be happy to say Maori words properly.
"We all live in New Zealand and we are all multicultural now," she said. "We have foreign tourists visiting who can say the words right but some people born in New Zealand don't want to."
Hastings District Council planning and regulatory services group manager John O'Shaughnessy said the council had not expected the choice to be controversial.
The council had completed a report about the significance of the name but if it was referred back to the council it would have to find a solution.
Snow Wilkins managing director Tim Wilkins said it was unusual for a street to be named after development was started.
He and his father had developed a number of subdivisions throughout the region without conflict over street names.
The organisation was not against a street being given a Maori name, and suggested the reserve in the Arataki Mews could be named Te Heipora.
"We have spoken with people that have purchased properties and Maori representatives and we now want council to review the decision on the name," he said.