New waterfront lanes will have Māori names

• August 21, 2017

Five new waterfront lanes will be given Māori names.

A new development in Wynyard Quarter is acknowledging Auckland’s Māori history with a set of new laneways.

Ratified by the Waitemātā Local Board last week, the five new laneways will be named after Māori lunar and celestial systems.

Chair of the board Pippa Coom said the names recognised the city’s obligations to mana whenua.

“There are a lot of Pākehā and European names . . . (but) we don’t have a lot of te reo names in the city centre, so this is a real good opportunity to balance that.

“It’s good to have a wider range of names in Wynyard Quarter reflecting Auckland’s unique identity.”

The five new lanes will branch off the existing Tiramarama Way that runs parallel to the main Wynyard Quarter walkway.

The laneways will open when with new residential and commercial blocks are completed from September this year.

Lane A:	Pūanga Way	Beginning of harvest cycle; 7^th brightest star seen above Tautoru (Orion’s Belt) in early morning
Lane B:	Māhuru Way	Spring cycle of initial growth; fourth month in Māori lunar calendar
Lane C:	Autahi Way	Canopus, the second brightest star, son of Takurua (also called Atutahi and Aotahi)
Lane D:	Waikokota Way	Extend existing lane naming across Madden Street
Lane E:	Pipiri Way	First month of Māori lunar calendar: depict the cyclic connection of arrival and departure, beginning and end