Matthew Tso/Stuff
Wainuiomata Community Board chairman Gabriel Tupou at the extraordinary meeting in which the naming of a new street after the suburb s former mayor Harry Martin was revoked in favour of Te Ara Raukura – a nod to the mana whenua.
Harry Martin Lane’s tenure as a street in the Wainuiomata shopping precinct was shorter than its namesake’s time as mayor.
Just over a fortnight after the street was named after the suburb’s only mayor, which formerly had its own council, the Wainuiomata Community Board has overturned its choice in favour of Te Ara Raukura to acknowledge the area’s mana whenua. The under-construction street will link The Strand with Queen St.
Wainuiomata mayoral street name to be replaced after just 15 days stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
ROSA WOODS
Tajzhay Pouwhare, 18, and other students at Wanuiomata High School started a petition to rename Lower Hutt street names in te reo Māori. (File photo)
Harry Martin Lane was named just five days ago but already its future is in doubt, with Lower Hutt mana whenua calling the decision to reject a Māori street name “disrespectful and hurtful”. Last Wednesday, Wainuiomata Community Board narrowly voted 3-2 to name its newest street after the Lower Hutt’s suburb’s one and only mayor, Harry Martin, who passed away in 2017. However, the decision has immediately come under fire, with mana whenua calling for cultural training for board members that rejected the Māori street name put forward.