Council decides road names for old SH1 through Kāpiti

Kāpiti Coast District Council has agreed the names it wants for five sections of the old State Highway 1 in Kāpiti following its revocation to a local road. 

Mayor Janet Holborow said Council took on board strong community feedback in favour of staying with names that have been in local usage for many decades, though some names are still subject to approval from Land Information New Zealand.  

"Local residents were firm in their view that some of the names are in common use, and in their opposition to any change," says Mayor Holborow.  

"After further conversations with mana whenua and feedback from residents, we recognised that a lot had changed since the original offering of historic Māori names."

From Poplar Avenue to Kāpiti Road, Council are proposing Main Road South. Main Road North was agreed from the end of Rimutaka Street to the Waikanae River.

Names such as ‘Main Road’, or variations of it, are not generally acceptable under the naming conventions used by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), the agency responsible for gazetting road names.

"For these two stretches of road, the names may not be acceptable to LINZ. Should they not be approved by LINZ, Council has approved the names Hokowhitu and Southward Drive as alternatives," says Mayor Holborow.

The name ‘Hokowhitu’ honours the local men who served in the Māori Pioneer Battalion, Te Hokowhitu a Tū, in World War One. 

‘Southward Drive’ recognises the contribution of Len Southward to the community and was put forward by the Southward family during the initial consultation, with strong community support.  

The road through Waikanae town will remain Main Road, with Council proposing extending the road name north to Peka Peka. Main Road is the existing gazetted name through Waikanae, so isn't subject to LINZ approval, but the extension will require confirmation by them.  Main Road was the preferred option from the Community Board and wider community.

The Hadfield Road connection will become Horrobin Road after one of the early farming families in the district. This was the name favoured by the Community Board, and Horrobin descendants presented in favour of the name to both to the Waikanae Community Board and Council.

The renaming process began in 2016 and despite extensive community consultation at the time, no decision was made.

A working group consisting of mana whenua and local historians had suggested names honouring Māori individuals and history for each of the old state highway sections in 2016. 

Mayor Holborow thanked the group for offering ‘beautiful names that honoured tipuna (ancestors) and the history of the land’. She said the process following the offer of the names was unacceptable and must not happen again.

"I’m still very saddened by how our process got us to this place, but we will continue to look at ways of honouring these tipuna in our district.”

The Council also approved a motion for council officers to review its road naming and renaming policy in consultation with mana whenua.

“This has been difficult to navigate but we needed to make a decision and move forward,” Mayor Holborow said. 

For renaming, the road was divided into sections as it allows most properties to keep the same street numbers. “If we adopted one name for the entire length of the road, almost everyone living along it would have had to renumber their property,” Mayor Holborow said.

The original section 1 (Paekākāriki to MacKay’s Crossing) is staying part of the state highway. This means it continues to be managed by NZTA and doesn’t need renaming.

Section 7 from Peka Peka to Ōtaki is still being upgraded and will be renamed when it too is handed over to the Council to manage as a local road.

Mayor Holborow said NZTA covered most of the costs associated with renaming the road as part of the revocation agreement.

Council will now publicly notify its intention to rename the roads and will work with LINZ, affected property owners, and emergency services to ensure there is a smooth transition to the gazetted road names, Mayor Holborow said.