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Wellington.Scoop
Today’s Lonely Planet review of Wellington (“…might just be the best little capital in the world”) has to be balanced against the enormous outreach of the Lonely Planet empire.
It’s great that we’re number four on Lonely Planet’s list of the world’s top ten cities for next year. But it all depends which list you’re looking at. Go on line to check the Lonely Planet’s top picks for New Zealand, and you’ll find we are only the tenth of 15 recommendations. We’re on that list, but we are sharing it with Auckland, Napier and Rotorua, among others. And we haven’t been updated since February last year.
Lonely Planet spreads its net widely. It advertises a choice of six books about New Zealand. Wellington is on page 394 of “New Zealand,” page 156 of “Discover New Zealand,” page 378 of “New Zealand’s North Island” and somehow we’re even included on page 88 of “New Zealand’s South Island.”
Our naming as number four in the list of the world’s top cities can be found in Lonely Planet’s “Best In Travel 2011″ book, which is now on sale for $34. The book offers hundreds of “best trends, destinations, journeys and experiences,” chosen by a panel of travel experts. It’s great that we are on the list, but the comments about us are not exactly what’s claimed in today’s brochure issued by Positively Tourism Wellington which tells us that we’ve been “named … the coolest little capital in the world.”
Here’s what is actually written: “Chances are the slogan writers would have gone for ‘Coolest Little Capital in the World’ were it not for the unfortunate allusion to the chilly southerlies that gust through the streets.”
But we shouldn’t get despondent. The comment is followed immediately by: “Despite (or maybe because of) its impetuous weather, Wellington is Cool-with-a-capital-C, crammed with more bars, cafes and restaurants per capita than New York, and a slew of gourmet producers including some ten independent coffee roasteries.” And the headline at the top of the page does say “The coolest little capital in the world.” No one would blame our tourist promoters for seizing on such words.
And if the Lonely Planet writer sometimes seems to be carried away – we may not share her view that catching the cable car is one of our “life-changing experiences” – nevertheless it’s always nice to be liked.
It’s a good day for rave reviews. In the DomPost today, Simon Sweetman writes that Leonard Cohen is “a true legend” and Rufus Wainwright was “overwhelming,” Jennifer Shennan writes that The Nutcracker is “enormous fun,” Laurie Atkinson reviews Apollo 13 as being “a roaring success,” and John Button writes that Michael Houstoun was “masterly.” All real examples of why we like living in Wellington.
Thanks, Lindsay. Great article. I went to the launch – nice strawberries and excellent Mojo coffee. Lots of praise for Kerry Prendergast, Fran Wilde, Mark Blumsky and UncleTom Cobbler, but sadly not a mention of all the passionate, dedicated, feisty citizens of Wellington who have fought the council for years to protect, save and create the things that make Wellington the city it is: Waitangi/Chaffers Park, Odlins, Shed 22, Free Ambulance building, Town Hall, Old St Paul’s … etc etc. And what about the brillliant Sculpture Trust that has adorned the city with fabulous works of art? And the cycling bodies that battle daily to make the roads safe for people on two wheels? The other lot achieved the defunct Retail Centre, the hideous Events Centre, the appalling Sports Centre now destroying Cobham Park, some of the ugliest apartment developments this side of Ulan Bator, the destruction of Tonks Avenue, and are still conspiring to produce a ridiculous, ugly, 70s-style elevated freeway alongside the beautiful Basin Reserve. But yes, we are grateful for the cake tin.
It’s always nice to be liked indeed! Why does Wellington always seem so hungry for praise? Why do we devour every crumb of comfort that strangers drop in our path? If you must have a trite little phrase summing up this city how about “The most insecure capital in the world” – and I don’t mean seismically.
Our new mayor has a formidable task to out-perform her predecessor, Kerry Prendergast, who was widely viewed as New Zealand’s best mayor. During her nine years in office Prendergast was responsible for three new inner city parks as well as Waitangi Park, the largest green space in the inner city. She brought the World of Wearable Arts (WOW) to the capital, upgraded the Art Gallery and spread works of sculpture across the city. Mayor Prendergast squeezed $220 million out of central government to upgrade and strengthen council public housing buildings; the re-built Carter Observatory and Zealandia Sanctuary both bear her fingerprints. Then there’s the fabulous Oriental Parade/Freyberg beach upgrade, a spacious new Indoor Community Sports Centre taking shape in Evans Bay plus the ‘Greening of the Quays’ that beautified the arterial route from Taranaki Street to the Railway Station and beyond, creating a tree-lined boulevard.
Ask anyone in movies how instrumental Kerry has been in nurturing the movie industry that has made Wellington recognised internationally as a film mecca, bringing thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars into our city economy (by contrast, our new mayor has been eerily quiet during the Hobbit crisis).
Wellington has blossomed in the past nine years, our visitor numbers have multiplied and the city is envied by the rest of New Zealand. Kerry Prendergast has out-performed any New Zealand mayor in recent memory and transformed Wellington into “the best little capital in the world”. She deserves our praise and thanks.
Thank you Mary and all the hard workers keeping it real in Wellington. Residents rate Wellington highly for its quality of life, but though “open spaces with sunlight protection” should be treasured, we thought better of it and turned Manners Mall into a Transit Station. With it we lost not only the heart of our city but also the friendliest place in Wellington.
Neil – The new Mayor is “eerily quiet during the Hobbit crisis”?! You mean, aside from the comments to the media, the attendance at the rally and the live Twitter updates? All while she was Mayor-elect, rather than actual Mayor?
Neil Harrap tells us that Kerry Prendergast was “widely viewed as New Zealand’s best mayor.” Who was in a position to take that wide view? It seems to me that the only people able to judge the effectiveness of a mayor’s administration are those who live through the consequences of it – the voters. By a small majority Wellington voted Kerry out.
On balance I think Wellington should be grateful to Kerry. She worked very hard and was often right. As is so often the case with someone who knows where they want to go, she was not great on inclusivity and her idea of engagement with the public was far from engaging.
Neil should know that Waitangi Park happened despite Kerry, not because of her. The park was won by Mary Varnham and her ‘Chaffers Park – Make it happen’ campaign, strongly supported by Waterfront Watch.
Well said Mary Varnham, Peter Brooks and others. Neil Harrap has consistently endorsed the policies of Kerry Prendergast, Rex Nicholls, Chris Parkin, and other property speculators. They supported attempting to build a Hilton on the most spectacular site on our Waterfront, to covering much of Frank Kitts Park and Waitangi Park with privately owned apartments and offices.
Thank goodness fighters of the calibre of Mary Varnham, Pauline Swann and others galvanised public opinion to stop the privatisation of our Waterfront, the Jack Ilott Green and other remnants of green open inner city space.
Hopefully the glut of vacant office space, inner city apartments, empty shops and the tight economy will enable mayor Celia and council to change the pro-property-speculator policies of ex mayors Prendergast, Blumsky and Wilde.
Neil Harrap forgets that a mayor has only one vote, (excluding a casting vote) and without the support of a majority of councillors, none of his list would have been achieved – for better or worse.
Can only endorse comments from Peter, Mary and Foggy. Mr Harrap appears to have forgotten Variation 17 which would have seen no park at Chaffers/Waitangi (the ex Mayor’s husband referred to it as a paddock) but a waterfront covered in 22 new buildings. One such area was the Taranaki precinct where twin towers were to be built on top of Circa and the Brewery building and the Free Ambulance building was to be moved closer to the rowing clubs. A prominent harbourside location would have been replaced by a high rise building with no maritime character, blocking views from Cable Street to the harbour and hills. After mediation failed in 2000, it was taken to the Environment Court by Waterfront Watch and supported by other organisations, with a resounding victory when the Judge stated that Waterfront Watch had “presented a compelling case in terms of heritage and urban design” against moving the Category 1 historic building. In 2002 the Mayor was quoted in the Evening Post as saying she and Lambton Harbour Management were not giving up on plans to move the building.
Moving away from the waterfront, one has to question the cost to ratepayers of failed feasibility studies, in particular the V8 Car Race, Sesqui, and numerous trips to the Environment Court.
I agree Wellington is a great place to live, but it is the passion of Wellingtonians who have made it so – 10,000 in 1996 who opposed large new buildings on the waterfront, followed by public meetings in 1996, 1997, another petition of 12,000 signatures in March 2000, plus 2400 submissions from the public. A council survey in 2001 showed that 86% voted against any new buildings in the transition area east of Te Papa and asked for landscaping, which we are still waiting for.
As Wellington hosts more and more tourists it is important that our various treasures are named in a consistent way. This consistency has recently been undermined by the decision of Wellington City Council to re-name without public consultation Tinakori Hill as Te Ahu Mairangi “hill”. The commonly used name for the entire ridgeline during the last 100 years has been Tinakori Hill. Before that the area was split into separate destinations ie: “Orangi Kaupapa cultivation area”, “Upper Etako – Mt Wakefield”, “Tinakori Hill”, the ridgeline in its entirety was known as “Ahu-mairangi ridge – Tinakore Ridge”. To unilaterally change the name of Tinakori Hill is regrettable but to change the name without embarking first on a public education programme is reprehensible.
The cost of these changed signs is likely to have been considerable for the designs, construction and installation plus the cost of removal and disposal of the “old” signs. This at a time when we have been told that WCC is unable to afford attractive self managing plants instead preferring cheaper grasses. It has only been in very recent times that signs have been installed around and on the Hill. The waymarkers are excellent. It seems unnecessarily extravagant of Council to have replaced some very new directional and locational signs. Finding Tinakori Hill is sometimes a challenge for Wellingtonians it will be more so when a name is used that is unfamiliar. A further cost will be to change the existing publicity material.
It may be too late to re-think this change without incurring more costs. Instead the Wellington City Council should embark on an advertising exercise to ensure that residents and visitors know that Te Ahu-Mairangi (apparently translated as a “heap of black pines” Hill) is what has been commonly known as Tinakori Hill.
Hi Rosamund – I know the general tenor of contributions to this site is that it’s a place to bag Council, but a couple of minutes research would have told you that the change in name (Tinakori Hill to Te Ahumairangi Hill) was a result of legislation to enact the Port Nicholson Block Settlement. I’d encourage you to read it, because it gives a good summary of the Crown’s repeated breaches of agreements. My understanding is that a good chunk of the hill was supposed to be set aside for iwi as part of their ‘Tenths’.
In terms of consultation – I’d suggest that we’d be a lot better served by spending more time on consulting on the most important issues, and ones where there is actually something up for grabs. (ie that we can influence)
Incidentally the Port Nicholson Settlement said eight place names will be altered by the settlement legislation. These are:
Existing place name – Altered place name
Ngauranga Stream – Waitohi Stream
Mount Misery – Mount Wai-ariki
Sinclair Head – Sinclair Head/ Te Rimurapa
Red Rocks – Pariwhero/Red Rocks
Tinakori Hill – Te Ahumairangi Hill
Lowry Bay – Whiorau/Lowry Bay
Baring Head – Baring Head/Örua-pouanui
Steeple Rock – Steeple Rock/Te Aroaro-o-Kupe
Regards
Andy Foster
City Councillor
Dear Rosamund: Cr Foster is quite correct about the genesis of the name change from Tinakori Hill to Te Ahu Mairangi. The reasons for the name change are set out in the Deed of Settlement between the Crown and the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust, a copy of which is available at http://www.ots.govt.nz.
The Port Nicholson Block Claims Settlement Bill was made available for public submission by the Maori Affairs Select Committee. While there were submissions about the greenbelt there were no submissions on the name changes proposed by the settlement.
Daran Ponter
Regional Councillor
Andy you have forgotten:
Otari/Wiltons Bush, Matiu/Somes Island, Chaffers/Waitangi Park, North Queens Wharf/Kumutoto, Karori Wild Life Sanctuary/Zealandia and so the list goes on.
I am astonished that you both put the construction you did on my carefully crafted letter. My concern centred on the extravagance of replacing new and recently installed directional and locational signage on Te Ahu-Mairangi heights (see G.L.Adkins “Great Harbour of Tara”- Whitcombe & Tombs (1959))*– Tinakori Hill (see “Streets of my City”- F.L.Irvine-Smith – Reeds (1948)* – this book is quoted directly by Adkins).
Te Ahu-Mairangi – Tinakori Hill is a beloved treasure/taonga of many Wellingtonians who walk, jog, run and even cycle regularly on it [this includes thee and me Andy]. Local and directional signs should be consistent with maps and guides lest locals and visitors become even more confused in our cuddly City, where nothing is where people expect, because of our topography. The waymarkers installed in recent years are informative, elegant and a sensible investment of our rates. As it seems that there are funds available from our rates to use for this change, I am now optimistic that similar sums will be spent upgrading and installing many more signs and upgrading tracks/trails around greater Wellington (eg: Polhill, Patanga (shown on maps and guides as the prime route to Mount Wakefield – Upper Etako on Te Ahu-Mairangi “heights”) and the Thomas Quarry route from behind ‘Potters’ building.
Andy, if “presenting problems” are dealt with then it’s less likely that “issues” will arise that will disturb the equilibrium of the populace. As an elected representative, you are obliged to consult, engage and act in accord with the expressed wish of your electors.
Daran, thanks for the info. I suggest that you read some of the many books that cover the history of Greater Wellington so that matters are put in context. Beginning with the two above, both out of print but readily available from 2nd hand bookshops.
Ka kite ano, Rosamund.
Dear Rosumund,
I was simply correcting the suggestion in your post that it was the Wellington City Council that instituted the name change. This is clearly not the case.
Thanks for the reading list. I quite like the report of the Waitangi Tribunal into the Port Nicholson Block claims.
Heoi ano
Daran
Me thinks Andy Foster protests too much and he seems over sensitive to anyone or any group who have opinions or views contrary to his entrenched beliefs.
Vryn – Au contrare – differing views are great, especially if well expressed and well founded. Problem is that on this one it isn’t a matter of opinion, but of fact. One of the ‘wonderful’ things about blog sites is the way that people can (and frequently do) wax lyrical but have not checked out whether they have the basic facts right. I don’t think that is a lot to ask. A councillor or official would get a caning if not getting their info sorted first and fair enough too. If you aren’t sure why something’s happened surely it’s a lot more sensible to ask a question first ? That more than the name of the hill or signage is the point I wanted to make.
And sorry Rosamund, it doesn’t matter how well constructed a letter is (and I see you’ve sent the same one to at least two newspapers) if the basic facts are wrong.
Incidentally had you attended the very little nice function yesterday to open the new lookout, I think you’d have got a very clear impression of why the name is important to the Port Nicholson Block.
Thanks Daran for confirming the facts. I agree that reading the Tribunal report would be instructive. It’s easily googled.
Regards
Andy
Thank you Councillor Foster for your once again lucid and expansive , eloquent explanation . I now feel suitably castigated by you and humbled.
Hi Rosamund
Don’t feel castigated or humbled. By bringing the matter into the open you were doing us, the citizens of Wellington, a service. Keep it up. I was at the opening of the lookout on Wednesday and still do not think that the name change was justified. We do not even know who made the decision on the Government & WCC side. My impression is that the Councillors for Lambton Ward were not told of the decision.
Here are a few more “facts” for consideration.
The name Tinakore first appears on the William Mein Smith (New Zealand Company Surveyor) map of Wellington dated 1840 held by both the Turnbull Library and the British Museum and available online. http://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz//view/action/ieViewer.do?from_proxy=true&dps_pid=IE272657&dps_custom_att_1=ilsdb&dps_dvs=1280100143634~575&dps_pid=IE272657
It is a most important place name in the founding of our city. The Mein Smith document is a definitive map of the early settlement. It also shows that the Wellington Town Belt (of which the hill forms a part) is inside the original Wellington City boundaries and not outside as stated in the Waitingi Tribunal report on the Port Nicholson Settlement.
In “The Great Harbour of Tara” (1959) Adkin refers to Miss FL Irvine-Smith’s book on Street names in Wellington City (1948) for the meaning of “Tinakori” but does not quote her (p11). Adkin states that “the significance of the original name is not known and speculation concerning it without an authoritative lead would be profitless”.
What an opportunity the Waitingi Tribunal missed! Perhaps the government (or the WCC) should have produced a few theories before making their decision. This would have at least countered (or confirmed) local anecdotes of Maori road gangs striking for a lunch break” – shades of Parnell, the first kiwi trade unionist, Pakeha of course! Like Irvine-Smith, I believe that the word “ Tinakori” originates from maori for “no food” but I suggest that the context is more likely to be starving settlers going to their maori neighbours for help than about uncooperative workers.The collision between the two cultures was a mixed bag but the new settlers were welcome and could not have survived without the hospitality of the incumbents.
As for the New Name Te Ahuamairingi: what does it mean?
According to the DomPost (7 Nov 2010 pA9), Liz Mellish speaking for Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust says it “does not have a simple meaning: The translation is not a literal translation of the word rather the concept of this maunga and its significance in our cultural landscape….. [ it means] the convergence between the sky and the land.” The National Library says “According to the ‘Raupo dictionary of modern Maori’ by P M Ryan (2008) it means whirlwind or sacred place”.
Irvine-Smith refers to Tinakori Hill and Ahu-mai-rangi Heights. Adkins refers to Ahu-mai-rangi Ridge{ P11 and Map IV) and his map has some similarity to Mein Smith’s 1840 map which also shows a ridge called “Tinakore”. In Louis Ward’s Early Wellington (1928), the Hill above Tinakori Rd / Thorndon is called “Mt Wakefield”. Ahu-mi-rangi Heights not only includes this hill but all the ones around the city to The Show Buildings (Mt Cook). [needs confirmation]
The WCC story board at the new lookout gives a very good potted history. The Hill was also referred to as “Mt McCleverty“ (I believe Col McCleverty acting for the Crown awarded this to Maori as part of their “tenth”. He was trying to rationalise Wakefield’s purchase on behalf of the New Zealand Company. But it eventually went to the government for a radio station before eventually being “owned’ by Telecom. (It would be nice to have a better history and more debate on this murky story.) The last official word comes from the NZ Geographic Board who simply say “Tinakori Hill (recorded, not official)” (http://www.linz.govt.nz/placenames/consultation-decisions/decisions-archive/20090903/index.aspx. Is it really that simple?
Restoring NZ European place names to their original Maori names is often a good idea because they can better reflect our combined history. But this should be done in the public domain with good information and open debate. What we don’t need is long-held Maori names being replaced by different Maori names behind closed doors as part of Treaty settlements. Unlike the ‘h” in “Wanganui”, “Tinakori” is not just a spelling error, it is an important root in the settlement of Wellington. Before changing it, more research should have been done. It deserves a proper democratic debate amongst the citizens of Wellington (Maori, Pakeha, Polynesian and other immigrants). Surely the elected custodians of Wellington should have done more to preserve the heritage of our wonderful city. Did they participate in the Parliamentary Sub-committee process? What was said about the name change? Why was it agreed to? Apparently most of our councillors were unaware of the name being changed for a year afterwards
Well done Rosamund for bringing the affair into the open.