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Carterton councillors have voted to name a new street after a local developer.
The name Van Baarle Close was given the green light at a recent Policy and Projects Committee meeting.
It is a nod to developer Rudy van Baarle, of Molesworth Homes, who has developed 150 properties in Carterton.
But not all elected members were in favour of the name.
Deputy Mayor Rebecca Vergunst said although she had “immense respect” for van Baarle and the contribution he had made, she did not believe the name fit the council’s road naming policy.
As per the policy, Carterton District Council’s first preference is to use Maori road names that reflect cultural significance for new developments.
A report to the committee said the area being developed was not identified as an area of significance to tangata whenua.
Vergunst said this was the first opportunity this triennium to name a new road.
“Even though we do have district growth, if every single new street name was named in te reo, still only five per cent of our street names would reflect tangata whenua history in our district.
“Place names are the oral history of our landscape. Currently, our town street names and physical structures do not reflect our collective history.”
Everyone else was in favour of the road name.
“Looking at the amount of development that this developer has done in Carterton, he is worthy of having [the street named after him],” councillor Steve Cretney said.
“With the amount of development going forward in Carterton in next 10 years, there will be a lot of opportunities for partnerships to occur with iwi for road naming of future roads.”
Councillor Dale Williams said this was a “small acknowledgement to make for a developer who is willing to help drive Carterton forward”.
Mayor Greg Lang noted the council was engaged with hapu to roll out a bi-lingual signage project. – NZLDR
- Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
