Move to change Lake Road’s name back again
A proposal to rename Lake Road in the Wanstead/Flemington area to Lake Station Road is currently out for public feedback.
Residents of Lake Road in the Wanstead/Flemington area have petitioned the CHB District Council and asked that the name of their road be changed back to what it was named by the Patangata County Council — Lake Station Road.
The name Lake Station Road changed to Lake Road at the amalgamation of the Patangata and Waipukurau County Councils in the 1970s.
“Investigating and researching the background of the road’s name and history has been an interesting journey into the past,” says Miriam Squire, customer and community support officer.
“With amalgamation in 1989 of numerous councils to Central Hawke’s Bay District Council, the district now has five roads with similar lake names.”
The primary driver of the proposed change is community safety, with the current Lake Road name regularly causing confusion for GPS and Emergency Services.
Residents of Lake Road were often confronted with bemused motorists who were actually trying to get to Lake View Road in Waipukurau and had been taken a long way out of their way and were subsequently lost.
The proposal to rename Lake Road to Lake Station Road aims to alleviate this issue and is historically more correct, the road having been originally named after Lake Station.
Resident Peter Coleman, a supporter of the proposal, recalls waiting on the corner of Lake Station Road as a schoolboy for the bus to take him to the Waipukurau College.
“The road at that time was just a dirt road,” says Peter, “With a big hole in the middle that filled up with water and ice in the winter, it had big stones in it which we stood on while waiting for the Porangahau school bus.”
While the road is now sealed and Peter no longer waits to catch the school bus, he may get the opportunity to stand on the corner of Lake Station Road again.
The council is seeking feedback on the proposal, with any person lodging an objection or giving feedback to do so in writing by email to governance@chbdc.govt.nz or writing at any CHB District Council office. For further information on the proposal visit our website www.chbdc.govt.nz
Objections or feedback on the proposal closes on Wednesday 31 October 2018.