Whanganui: New signs yet to be installed for recently renamed settlement Pākaraka

The old Maxwell signs have been removed but the new signs for Pākaraka have yet to be installed. Photo / Bevan Conley

More than six months after Maxwell was renamed Pākaraka there are still no signs marking the settlement north of Whanganui - and no date set for their installation.

In February this year, the settlement formerly known as Maxwell had its name changed by the New Zealand Geographic Board, after public consultation late last year with the Whanganui District Council.

Of the 255 public submissions received during the consultation, 189 supported the name change and 58 opposed it, with four remaining neutral, two giving alternative name suggestions and one asking for further consultation on the change.

Pākaraka sits on State Highway 3 about 20km northwest of Whanganui.

Ryan Service, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency's Whanganui and Manawatū system manager of maintenance and operation, said the signs had arrived in April.

"Once a change has been formalised, we begin looking for opportunities to make these changes to relevant highway signs," Service said.

He said the installation of the signs was being managed by Whanganui District Council, which was working with representatives of local iwi Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi and their hapu Ngāti Maika toward an official event for the sign installation.

The council also worked in partnership with Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi and Ngāti Maika on the application for the name change, but the council said a date had yet to be decided for the installation of the signs.

Ngāti Maika spokesman Bob Brownlie also said there was no installation date set as of yet, but he expected more concrete details on the event to be available after a marae meeting between the hapu and the council, scheduled to take place next month.

The old Maxwell signs have been removed.