Christchurch’s council is saying “haere rā” to incorrectly spelled te reo Māori signs at parks across the city and on Banks Peninsula.

City council parks staff have been working with the council’s Te Tiriti team and Lynne Te Aika from Ngāi Tūāhuriri to correct the spelling mistakes at about 30 parks as part of a rolling programme of signage renewal.

Visitor experience team leader Amy Johnston Bray, who is spearheading the project, said three sites had already had their updated signage installed, with the most prominent being Rāwhiti Domain.

“This is a significant piece of work, which started after a member of the public contacted us last year to say the spelling of Rāwhiti was wrong. Three other sites will have new signage installed soon, and we will continue to make corrections as we work through our renewal programme,” Johnston Bray said.

Spelling mistakes at about 30 parks, including Rāwhiti, are being corrected as part of Christchurch City Council’s signage renewal programme. Photo: CCC

The council’s Te Tiriti team and Te Aika checked all 1300 park and reserve names and identified many with tohutō/macrons missing and a couple that were completely wrong, such as several parks around Kā Pūtahi creek.

Council staff then researched the history of the park to find out the original intent of the name and checked the spellings with local rūnanga.

Johnston Bray said the meaning of a word can change dramatically depending on the placement of the tohutō.

“For example, Te Kahu Park. A kahu is a cloak but a kāhu is a bird, or mara means fermented, while māra is a garden.

“This shows that where the tohutō goes, matters.

"We all personally want our names to be spelt and pronounced correctly and that same respect should be shown to te reo Māori.”

The corrections are also being made to the city council’s website, consultation material and internal reports.