Proposed Blenheim Street Names Divide Councillors Again

Friday, 31 January 2025, 8:06 pm
Article: Maia Hart - Local Democracy Reporter

Finding the right names for new Marlborough streets remains quite a peak to summit, with three new proposals dividing councillors.

Blue Hills Estate, which is developing property in Springlands, off Rose Street near Blenheim's Westwood Business Park, wants to name its three new streets Blue Hills Drive, Chalice Drive and Patriarch Close.

The options were proposed as a nod to important geographical features in the region.

Mount Patriarch, in the Richmond Ranges, overlooks Lake Chalice, the only alpine lake in the area, and near one of the most challenging sections of Te Araroa trail.

The application was discussed at a road naming subcommittee meeting in December, the minutes of which were presented to the assets and services committee on Tuesday.

Name proposals were circulated with a small group of people for feedback, such as former councillor Cynthia Brooks, John Orchard on behalf of the Marlborough Historical Society, and iwi, before being passed to the committee. The subcommittee minutes said not all of the names put forward by Blue Hills Estate had been met with support.

When the developer was told this they did not address the concerns, but indicated they would like the names to be put to the road naming subcommittee.

The minutes said there was "some discussion" about the road name Patriarch Close, and it was suggested to change it to Mount Patriarch Close.

This was supported by members of the committee and still met the road naming policy, the minutes said.

On Tuesday, Wairau-Awatere ward councillor Gerald Hope questioned the consistency of the names put forward by the committee.

"I would have thought Lake Chalice would be the most appropriate, because a chalice is not Lake Chalice. A chalice is something quite different," Hope said.

Blenheim ward councillor Deborah Dalliessi, who chaired the road naming subcommittee, said they felt Lake Chalice was well known enough in Marlborough that the street name could get away without the "Lake", whereas Mt Patriarch Cl needed the "Mt" to show that it was named after Mount Patriarch.

Hope still thought Chalice did not represent "the accuracy that's deserved".

"We have got to be consistent on this stuff. Accuracy is paramount."

Blue Hills Estate co-director Mark Davis said the council had contacted him after the meeting to see if the company would mind if "Lake" was added to Lake Chalice Drive.

"You have to put up suggestions, and they either adopt them or sometimes there are changes. We're not too worried if they do play around with them a bit," Davis said.

He said the subdivision theme was intended to reflect the Richmond Ranges.

"So it does make sense to call it Lake Chalice," he said.

The road naming subcommittee was formed in 2021 after criticism from councillors that developers chose names that were too English. Names for the subdivision in question - Rose Manor - had included Whitehall Drive, Chapel Close and Bond Street, which were described by a councillor at the time as "colonial cringe".

Some councillors thought the subcommittee added "another layer of bureaucracy" to the council's road-naming process. A former councillor argued the council had a policy for naming roads anyway.

That policy, mentioned in the minutes from the December meeting, stated that names should have a common or established theme if more than one road was being created. Or it could be named after a historical person, as long as permission was granted, or given a traditional or appropriate Māori name.

The minutes noted that Kāinga Ora chose to meet with iwi before a road naming application was made for recent developments.

The committee suggested that all developers could be required to do this, the minutes said.

However, this would require a policy review, which the committee agreed should be completed by July 2025. The review would be done in collaboration with iwi.

The assets and services committee approved the minutes, subject to full council approval on 27 February.

If a councillor wanted to challenge the names it would have to be raised at that point, assets and services chairperson Brian Dawson said.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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