THE VALLEY CITY

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 107, 1 November 1940, Page 6

THE VALLEY CITY

SOME LEGAL POINTS

SELECTION OF NAME

EXTENDING AREA

Inquiries have been made as to when Lower Hutt will be proclaimed a city (providing, of course, the Gov-ernor-General in Council approves of the request).

Mr. J. W. Andrews, Mayor of Lower Hutt, states that it was the intention of the council to have the proclamation mad* on February 1, 1941, when the borough will celebrate its jubilee, but he now finds that it is possible that the proclamation may take place earlier. The request for city status having already been made, it. may not be possible to delay the legal machinery that has now been put in motion.

The granting of city status is governed by a short and simple clause in the Municipal Corporations Act, which reads:—"The Governor-General may from time to time proclaim any borough having a population of not less than 20,000 to be a city, and every such Proclamation shall have effect accordingly." It has been pointed out that if the proclamation were postponed, for even a few months, it might be possible that, by reason of a catastrophe or other cause, the borough might not have the necessary population. "THE ORIGINAL MAORI NAME." In regard to the suggestion that the borough should be renamed, Mr. Andrews states that a different position arises and that no change of name could take effect until six months after j the new name was approved by the Governor-General in Council. A committee of the council has been set up to deal with the question- but has not yet met. The change of name is governed by the following clauses in the Designation of Districts Act, 1908 (amended m 1909). Clause 3 reads:—"The Gov-ernor-General in Council, from time to time, at the request, or with the consent of, the local authority of amy borough, county, road district, or town district, to be signified to. the Gov-ernor-General by resolution of the local authority passed at any oartfeasry meeting thereof, may, by Proclamation, alter the name of that borough, county, road district or town district; and! in all such alterations and future namtag, preference shall be given to the original Maori names." i Clause 4: "No two places . . . shall i bear the same name." Mr. Andrews - wishes specially to draw attention to the last part of clause 3, which practically limits the change to a Maori name. NATIVE LOCALITY NAMES, Clause 4 would appear to rule out two suggestions which have been made that of "Heretaunga " the Maori name of the river, and "Te Marua' (tho As far as can be ascertained there was no Maori place-name covering the Lower Hutt area, though there are several place-names within the area of the borough. There were three pas to the south, Ohiti ("be cautious), Ngutu-ihe ("beak of the garfish"), and pae-tutu ("perch of tutu"). Hikoikoi was a pa on the Petone side of the river. There are also the place-names of the streams Waiwhetu ("starry water"), Awamutu ("end of river ), and Okautu ("fording creek"). There are also a number of placenames higher up the valley, such as the well-known names of Nae Nae and Taita. The family of Tara were the- first Maoris to settle in the valley, and it has been suggested that Atara would be a suitable name; this, however, would probably be ruled out because of the likeness to Otara, one of the Opotiki (Bay of Plenty) rivers. The Act states that preference should be given to the original Maori name. This would rule out such descriptive names as Te Maara ("the flower garden") . People who have names to propose should also remember that as there is no suggestion of an amalgamation with Petone, variants of the word Petone or Pito-one ("end of the sand") are out of order. THE CITY STATUS. Lower Hutt, if and when proclaimed a city, will be the ninth city in the Dominion, the others being the four main centres, and Nelson, Falmerston North, Wanganui, and. Invereargill, City status will not necessarily mean a larger council. The Municipal Corporations Act states that any borough whose population does not exceed 30,000 may have not less than six or more than twelve, exclusive of the Mayor. Cities of over 30,000 may have not less than twelve or more than twenty-one, exclusive of the Mayor. The council has power, within the limits of the Act, to pass a special order altering the number of councillors. PETITION FOR EXTENSION. The Lower Hutt borough has at present a petition before the GovernorGeneral in Council to extend its area to the Taita Gorge and to include a large area of the western hill land, embracing land west of Normandale, the Belmont Hills, and Gear Island. The Municipal Corporations Act provides that on presentation to the Governor-General of such a petition he may direct a commission, consisting of a Magistrate, the Commissioner : of Crown Lands for the land district,( and a district valuer to report to him as to whether the lands defined in the petition, or any part thereof, should be included in the borough. i

The specified requirements have been duly carried out, and the commission to hear evidence for and against the proposal will sit at Lower Hutt on November 13.