Name halts Cardno memorial

Unveiling to honour mayor on pause amid dispute over reserve

A memorial for a long-serving Southland mayor is built but cannot have a grand opening until a dispute about the name of the park it is in is resolved.

The late Frana Cardno was the Southland District’s mayor from 1992 until she retired in October 2013. She was made a companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to local government.

She had cancer and died at her Te Anau home in 2015.

The district’s current mayor, Gary Tong, was to unveil a memorial to Cardno on April 16, but that plan has been halted.

Three totems dedicated to Cardno were put into the reserve at Fergus Square, Te Anau, that was to be named Cardno Reserve.

However, the council received a complaint in regard to naming the reserve at Fergus Square.

Monique, Nicole and Sara Denize grew up in Te Anau but now live in different Australian cities. They wrote to the council, saying it should ‘‘stay’’ Fergus Square Park.

The Denize sisters lived in a Fergus Square house as children, when landowners began clearing the park of stones and gorse in the 1970s.

Working bees ran every Sunday for weeks and involved the Burrow, Denize, Ferris, Rhodes, Senior and Spooner families, among others.

The road that surrounds the park, Fergus Square, was named after Thomas Fergus, the MP for Wakatipu in 1889. However, the council says the park itself has never been formally named, even though residents often refer to it as Fergus Square Park.

Nicole Denize said that when she thinks of Fergus Square Park, it brings memories of the community spirit of those who cleared the park and then enjoyed it for years to come.

It should ‘‘stay’’ Fergus Square Park, she said.

The proposal to name the reserve in honour of Cardno was initiated by the public, Tong said.

An informal consultation process took place before it was formally taken to the Fiordland community board for consideration, where it was on the agenda and discussed in August 2018.

The community board agreed on the name Cardno Reserve for the park within the roadway Fergus Square.

The council is now talking with people who have raised concerns about the naming of the square before making any further decisions on the memorial.

JOHN HAWKINS/ STUFF; SUPPLIED Left: The late Frana Cardno, a former mayor of Southland, at her last council meeting in 2013. Below: The Denize sisters – Nicole, Monique and Sara – have written to the council asking for the reserve at Fergus Square not to be renamed.