Ten New Zealand place name changes now official
Ten changes to New Zealand place names were made official on Thursday 15 December, including three north Canterbury
place names that used offensive terms.
The following changes have been listed in the Gazetteer, the official record of New Zealand place names:
Canterbury
-Kānuka Hills - altered from Nigger Hill.
-Pūkio Stream - altered from Nigger Stream
-Tawhai Hill - altered from Niggerhead
South Auckland
-Whakaari / White Island Canyon - altered from White Island Canyon (an undersea feature)
-Whakaari / White Island Ridge - altered from White Island Ridge (an undersea feature)
-Whakaari / White Island Sea Valley - altered from White Island Sea Valley (an undersea feature)
-Mangatawa - altered to correct a historic misspelling of Maungatawa, a locality near Tauranga
Westland
-Blomfield Creek - altered to correct an historic misspelling of the former name, Bloomfield Creek
-Blomfield Range - altered to correct an historic misspelling of the former name, Bloomfield Range
-Mount Blomfield - altered to correct an historic misspelling of the former name, Mount Bloomfield
The details of these place names are available on the LINZ website, including two reports from the New Zealand
Geographic Board to the Minister for Land Information, and all of the submissions for Kānuka Hills, Pūkio Stream and
Tawhai Hill.
Visit the LINZ website for information about general place naming, the list of these 10 place name decisions, a
searchable Gazetteer, the Minister’s Media Release of 8 December 2016, and the New Zealand Geographic Board.
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