Ōmanawa Falls Reserve will officially have its original name, Te Rere o Ōmanawa, restored.

Tauranga City Council approved changing to the name given to the reserve by Ngāti Hangarau.

The reserve south of Tauranga features a 35m waterfall famed for its beauty.

Ngāti Hangarau Hapū Trust chairman Koro Nicholas told Tuesday’s council meeting, “It’s not a renaming exercise, it’s recognising the name.”

Councillors debated whether the reserve should be dual-named in English and Te Reo.

Pāpāmoa ward councillor Steve Morris said dual naming looked to him like a partnership approach.

Pāpāmoa ward councillor Steve Morris. Photo / David Hall

Welcome Bay ward councillor Hautapu Baker said restoring the original name would align with the council’s responsibilities to protect and preserve the site.

“Restoring that name is us acting in partnership.”

Te Awanui ward councillor Hēmi Rolleston said there was a place for dual naming sometimes, but he did not believe this was the time.

“This is a line in the sand.

“This name has mana.”

Councillors Hautapu Baker and Hēmi Rolleston. Photo / Alisha Evans

He said dual-named organisations, such as Hato Hone St John, were still commonly referred to by their English name.

Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale referred to the name restoration of Mauao from Mt Maunganui.

“The majority of the population now refer to it as Mauao.

“It will, over time, become normal, and people will know where it is,” he said.

Drysdale questioned how the transition period would operate, however, to avoid confusion for visitors.

Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan said it would not be an instantaneous shift and that both terms would be used for a time.

Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan.

He said the organisation could work with Google Maps and other mechanisms to make this happen.

He referred to Australia’s Ayers Rock, which dropped the dual name to only be known as Uluru in 2002 at the request of the Regional Tourism Association.

“It’s a progression over time. It’s not something that would happen immediately.”

He said signs in the area would have the dual name during the transition and would stay until they needed to be replaced.

All councillors voted for using Te Rere o Ōmanawa, except Tauriko ward councillor Martin Rozeboom, who preferred the dual naming approach.

History of the reserve

Nicholas told the council the “beautiful” name was bestowed by their ancestors many generations ago.

He said the reserve was a place tangata whenua went to find peace, tranquillity and healing.

Nicholas said Ngāti Hangarau want to allow people to learn about and be one with the place.

“A name with mana, with prestige and a name with history.”

Ngāti Hangarau Hapū Trust chairman Koro Nicholas.

Nicholas wrote in the resource consent application about the history of the land.

He said the whenua at Ōmanawa Falls had been the exclusive domain of Ngāti Hangarau for most of known history.

“Following Ngāti Hangarau‘s defence of our land at the battles of Pukehinahina and Te Ranaga in April and June of 1864 and following the scorched earth campaign in the Kaimai hinterland in 1867 known unfondly as Te Weranga – the burning – the land was confiscated from us."

He said the Crown admitted to wrongful confiscation from tangata whenua in 2012.

The title to the land had been passed on to many different entities since then, but it now sits with Tauranga City Council and within the rohe of the Western Bay of Plenty District Council.

The Western Bay council wrote a letter to the city council in March 2024 in support of naming the reserve Te Rere o Ōmanawa.

The Ōmanawa Falls Governance Group and Tauranga City Council will support Ngāti Hangarau’s planned application to the New Zealand Geographic Board to officially rename the waterfall, Ōmanawa Falls, to Te Rere o Ōmanawa.

“Ōmanawa” translates to “of the heart”, and the full name means “the waterfall of the heart”.

Ayla Yeoman is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based in Tauranga. She holds a Bachelor of Arts majoring in communications, politics and international relations from the University of Auckland, and has been a journalist since 2022.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.