‘Beautiful’ te reo now part of council name
A Ma¯ ori name has been approved for the Tasman District Council, which will add Te Kaunihera o te tai o Aorere to its logo.
Councillors on Thursday agreed to the move. It means Tasman District Council/ Te Kaunihera o te tai o Aorere will be applied to the council’s livery with immediate effect for online resources, and then on a rolling basis as other materials are renewed, such as signs, business cards, publications and advertisements.
Council chief executive Janine Dowding said the use of a bilingual name was ‘‘very consistent with our commitment to our partnership and relationship with iwi’’.
Staff had worked with kaihautu¯ Archdeacon Harvey Ruru on an interpretation in te reo Ma¯ ori of the council name.
‘‘The name before you – Te Kaunihera o te tai o Aorere – is . . . specified in the [New Zealand] Geographic Board and our kaihautu¯ , Harvey Ruru, has been very supportive and testing this with iwi chairs as well, and we have widespread support for it.’’
Ruru told councillors it was a ‘‘beautiful name’’, representing the waterways around the district.
In a staff report on the matter, council community relations manager Chris Choat says the adoption of a bilingual name ‘‘is a relatively easy task’’ that would acknowledge te reo Ma¯ ori as an official language and the council’s growing relationship with iwi within the district.
‘‘It is also recognition of te reo as an official language of New Zealand,’’ Choat says.
The planned phased approach to application of the bilingual name on the council livery meant it could be introduced for little investment, managed largely within existing budgets.
‘‘We recognise the wealth of special values that tangata whenua hold for the places, resources, history and the longterm sustainability of the district as contained in our Statement on Fostering Ma¯ ori Participation in Council DecisionMaking in the current Long Term Plan,’’ Choat says.