National Park Village potential name change riles Tauranga business

Blair Anderson and Maddie Ahern of Waimarino Group don’t want the name change to cause confusion for potential customers. Photo / John Borren

Tauranga business Waimarino Adventure Park is worried the name change for National Park Village will create confusion for its customers.

Uenuku iwi and the central North Island iwi collective Te Korowai o Wainuiārua have called for the tourist village National Park and its railway station to revert to the original name Waimarino.

Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa New Zealand Geographic Board supported the name change proposal and opened a three-month public consultation period on November 7.

But Waimarino, meaning calm waters, was also gifted to the adventure park and its land in the 1970s by a Ngati Kahu kaumātua, owner Blair Anderson said.

Anderson said his business has been building the brand Waimarino for 50 years.

Waimarino Adventure Park, Waimarino Kayak Tours and Waimarino Education Trust make up the family-owned business Waimarino Group. The adventure park sits alongside the Wairoa River on the outskirts of Tauranga.

His parents Barry and Barbara Anderson, who started the business, were one of the first Pākehā-owned tourism businesses to have a Māori name, Anderson said.

He was worried that if National Park Village reverts to Waimarino, other businesses would rename and use Waimarino, which would create confusion for customers.

”That would cause quite a bit of confusion in the international market as well as the domestic market.”

Anderson attempted to trademark the name but because it was an area, he was unable to.

Waimarino Group marketing manager Maddie Ahern said the name Waimarino was a “pillar in the Tauranga community”.

”Everyone that lives in Tauranga knows about Waimarino. The brand identity is quite strong here, but the international market, it’s huge.

”We’ve got a strong brand, but we still work at that every single day.

”We don’t want to come across that we’re not respecting the heritage of the land [at Waimarino Village].”

Anderson said it was “disrespectful” Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa hadn’t come to them about the proposal and they learnt about it through the media.

”It’s the lack of respect to an organisation that’s been around [since 1975], when nobody else was making that effort, we made that effort to have a Māori name.”

Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa secretary Wendy Shaw said when making a decision on a proposal, the board takes into account any potential confusion with other existing place names.

”It would be impossible for the board to directly contact everyone in the country who may have an interest in a proposed place name change.

Waimarino is located to the west of Tongariro National Park in the central North Island. Photo / Bevan Conley

”However, it does seek to make the proposal as widely known as possible. This includes through public notices, media releases and social media.”

Anderson said they have made a submission to the board about the proposal.

Te Korowai o Wainuiārua chairman Aiden Gilbert said the name Waimarino gradually declined to become known as National Park Village.

”For us as iwi Māori in place we’ve always known it as Waimarino. National Park, it’s not a name as such, it’s just an acknowledgment of the two national parks in this area.”

The two parks are Tongariro National Park and Whanganui National Park.

National Park Village is at the intersection of State Highway 4 and State Highway 47, on the western edge of Tongariro National Park.

”This is all part of iwi Māori revitalising the original name,” Gilbert said.

With the confusion for the Waimarino group of businesses Gilbert questioned when their history began.

The Tongariro Crossing and Mt Ngauruhoe in the Tongariro National Park. Photo / Bevan Conley

”I guess it’s a matter of which comes first, the chicken or the egg. The name has always been Waimarino here.

”It’s the businesses here that are kicking up a fuss about changing the name, and it’s interesting that a business over in Tauranga [is concerned].”

If Waimarino Adventure Park were worried about it creating confusion then the business could add Tauranga to their name, Gilbert said.

”The meaning of the name doesn’t belong to one person.”

Asked if the Waimarino group of businesses would consider adding Tauranga to their name, Anderson replied: “No. We are Waimarino. We’re in Tauranga, so we’d definitely be against that one.”

Anderson wanted to work with everyone to come up with a solution.

”We are not opposed to the name change, we are just opposed to the name change impacting everyone.”

To date, Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa had received 694 submissions on the proposal to change the name of National Park village to Waimarino and 80 submissions on the proposal to rename National Park Station to Waimarino Railway Station.

Consultation on the two proposals closes February 8. Submissions can be made at linz.govt.nz/consultations.

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