Tauranga streets, ways, avenues and dells will in future bear names that more closely reflect local character and history, Tauranga City Council declared today.
The move is intended to regain the naming initiative that slipped into developers' hands in recent years.



'We need to have a strong reference when it comes to street names. A better relationship to our own identity, in terms of significant events and significant heritage, whether Maori or non-Maori,” says Mayor Stuart Crosby.
'There are examples on the coastal strip where two significant developments are named after American coastal areas,” says Stuart.
'We don't want our city to be full of brand names used in marketing. We need to step back and consider our identity a bit. How we do that is the next step.”
Council staff have been asked to produce policies, objectives and a list of possible names with a better relationship to the Western Bay of Plenty than Laguna Key (sic) and Santa Monica Drive.
'We want to set some objectives, engage with the community and discuss how we can achieve this objective.
'If there is no gain, the council will make the decision on behalf of the community.”
Stuart believes that 25 years ago the council of the day had a strong input into names on street corners.
The present policy is that names are suggested by developers and the council approves them.