Brian Rudman: Good man in danger of losing place in history

It's Ritalin time in the Parnell political bear pit. For two years now, we outsiders have stood by, mouths open, as the politicians of the Tory heartland have fought themselves to a standstill over the renaming of a scrap of roadway hardly longer than a bus stop.

When I last checked, a couple of months back, it looked as though Harold Goodman Place was it. Which meant a victory for Harold's widow, ex-mayoress and longtime councillor Dame Barbara Goodman, and their would-be politician son, Stephen.

But last week, calamity.

Harold Goodman, one-time city councillor and deputy mayor, was out, and long-forgotten mid-19th-century shipbuilder Henry Niccol was in. For the moment at least.

But who knows. The Goodmans' allies seem to be lining up to take the fight into the third year.

Citizens and Ratepayers councillor Scott Milne has called the change "just wacko" and "petty politics", and dumped Hobson Community Board member Aaron Bhatnagar spat the dummy, calling the change "vindictive" and "absolutely disgusting".

Mr Bhatnagar, who says he was the initial proponent of Harold Goodman Place, says those behind the name change, his Action Hobson rivals, councillors Richard Simpson and Christine Caughey, are "guilty of breaking an old widow's heart".

This, let's remember, over the short dog-leg of The Strand, adjoining Parnell Rise, left adrift following the recent extension of the motorway down Stanley St and into The Strand proper.

And how are "Action Hobsonites" to blame? Well, back at the beginning of time in 2003 when the renaming first came up, the initial plan was to name it Scandinavian Place after the adjacent Volvo dealership, but even the Citrats thought that a tad commercial and fell in behind the Goodman suggestion.

A round of consultation was duly called and by late September last year, a remarkable 428 submissions were received. But, oh dear, only three of these favoured Harold Goodman Place - those from Dame Barbara, Stephen Goodman and Laurence Goodman.

The other 425 were all "provided by" local historian Rendell McIntosh. He and his supporters preferred Waipapa Place, commemorating the name of the original beachfront area in the 1840s and the Waipapa Stream that flowed into the harbour there.

Undeterred, the Hobson Community Board stuck to its guns, voting last November to stick with Harold Goodman. Counting against Waipapa was NZ Post's concerns its posties might confuse it with Otara's Waipapa Cres.

In February, the recommendation went to the city council's transport committee. Mr Simpson and Ms Caughey joined Citrat survivor Mr Milne to form a subcommittee to hear further submissions.

This committee came back with the surprise two-to-one decision to name it Henry Niccol Place. The Citrats, including Mr Milne who voted against it, are crying foul, saying it's a deliberate political slight against one of their own. Mr Simpson, more the boffin than politician at the best of times, seems genuinely surprised by the furore.

And anyone who has been bombarded by his emailed findings into the history of the Domain and the Waipapa Stream and Mechanics Bay has to know he hasn't plucked Henry Niccol from any political points-scoring bag.

Niccol, he says, arrived in Auckland in 1842, and in 1844 set up a ship-building yard on the site of the present Volvo dealership, where he built the first Government schooner, Albert.

Mr Simpson says "the selected name is a reference to forgotten and very significant heritage associations" and that "street naming is one way to ensure events, people and places are coupled together for future generations to make links and interpret their habitat through past associations in a broader context".

Disappointed Goodman son Stephen is reported as retorting that "the only way to be recognised by the city is to be dead 100 years".

As consolation prize, the transport committee, chaired by Mr Simpson, voted last week to "consider" Harold Goodman's name if "an appropriate street becomes available in Parnell for renaming".

Is that it then? Afraid not. There's another round of consultation with "affected parties" to go. While they're at it, they might want to agree on the correct spelling. Mr Simpson insists on Niccol with two "c's". The council documentation calls him Nicol.

Let's hope this doesn't mean the whole process has to start over.