`Let public pick name'

A binding public referendum is the only "truly democratic way" to find out whether people want to change the name of Whangarei's river, outspoken councillor Frank Newman says.
Whangarei District Council is considering changing the name of the Hatea River to Hoteo after concerns from Whangarei iwi that the name had been misspelled for many years.
In April the council decided to put its proposal to the NZ Geographic Board on hold for six months. The issue has also been referred to the council's Maori liaison subcommittee.
The geographic board agreed to accept changing the name of the river from Hatea to Hoteo as a "spelling mistake" at its June 17, 2005, meeting after a council request. But the council then asked for a delay so that extra consultation could be carried out. The only consultation planned since then was a public meeting at Terenga Paraoa Marae, in Porowini Ave, scheduled for last Saturday but cancelled the Friday before.
Mr Newman has now put a notice of motion to the August 2 council meeting calling for a binding public referendum to establish whether a name change was what the public wanted. He said he was concerned that a few Maori were driving the name change, but the rest of the population was not having a say.
He said a poll of 2260 Whangarei residents before the council changed the name of the city's iconic mountain from Parahaki to Parihaka two years ago found 94.2 percent opposed that name change, while 94.5 percent opposed changing Hatea to Hoteo.
"It's a public river and all the public has the right to decide if it should be changed."
Mr Newman said precedents had been set in Whangarei for binding referenda - with previous ones held on fluoridation and the single transferable voting system - and, if the council was concerned about the cost, it could be done in conjunction with rates demands or at the same time as other referenda.
Wanganui District Council recently held a referendum on whether the district should be renamed Whanganui, in line with the area's river. In that referendum in February, 82 percent of residents voted to keep spelling the city's name without an "h".
"Wanganui does referenda every year and there's no reason why we couldn't ... We could do a referendum on several issues at once that the public wanted to have their say on - Hatea River, the regional stadium, council debt levels ..."
Whangarei Mayor Pamela Peters would not comment until after a meeting with iwi representatives scheduled for this afternoon.
*`It has real meaning to Maori'
Whangarei kaumatua Te Ihi Tito doesn't think a public referendum is needed on the Hatea/Hoteo issue, saying it's up to Maori to decide.
"It's a Maori place name and Maori word and it should go back to Maori to decide," Mr Te Ihi said.
Iwi held a meeting at Pehiaweri Marae in Glenbervie recently and Hatea was not recognised as a valid name for the river by any of the old kaumatua, he said.
"None of them had any knowledge of Hatea. All Maori names have a meaning, usually about an event that occurred there. Hoteo has a history, but none of the kaumatua, and some were over 80, had any history to the name Hatea," Mr Tito said.
He said in Maori Hoteo meant a calabash, or gourd, that carried water or food.
"Hoteo River begins below the Whangarei Falls. During the battles on Parihaka some of the warriors' bodies were left lying there for a long time and seeped into the river," he said.
"It became a calabash that carried the spirits of those that had fallen in battle and that's where the name Hoteo came from, it has a real meaning to us. There are some really important things there for us."
Kaumatua would meet Whangarei Mayor Pamela Peters today to discuss the issue.
Mr Tito acknowledged that many people would oppose a name change.
"A lot of people don't like change, whether it's change for right or wrong. It's important though that we get it right and I think the council is handling this properly," he said.
Mr Tito said that in a letter dated August 10, 1914, Gilbert Mair, writing from Ohope to his brother Robert in Whangarei, used the following words "... and remind one of the old trees up the river Hoteo."