Amberley residents celebrate retaining street name

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from Northern Outlook

By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter

A group of Amberley residents are thrilled their street name will remain the same.

The Hurunui District Council voted last week to rescind a November 25 decision to change the name of Rosewood Drive to Hilton Drive by seven votes to three.

Resident Brian Gill said the decision was a relief to his neighbours, who were faced with the prospect of having a new street name and number.

‘‘At the end of the day democracy was the winner, but we would hope that there is some learning for the council administration that they don’t go roughshod without consulting with the community.

‘‘From our perspective, they had to be held accountable for making their recommendations.’’

He said residents only found out about the name change when they received a letter from the council dated April 29.

‘‘Five months after they had made the decision, they made a letterbox drop advising that from July 1 it will be renamed and this is your new number.’’

The decision impacted on 11 houses and the Little Oaks Preschool.

The residents launched a petition that was presented to Hurunui mayor Marie Black.

They met with Black and council staff on May 11 to air their concerns, before making a deputation to a council meeting on June 2.

‘‘This is an example of local democracy in action,’’ Black said.

‘‘We heard from the people and I thank them for having the courage to come and ask us to reconsider.’’

The council says staff contacted residents of Pound St, Hilton Drive and Rosewood Drive in November, and received responses from 37 properties in person, by phone, email and via SurveyMonkey.

The name Rosewood comes from the name of a nearby farm.

Rosewood Drive was chosen as a temporary name for a link road when stage 3 of the Oakfields subdivision was approved by the council in 2015.

The developer had proposed Hilton Drive South, but the council resolved that the name was similar to the name of an existing road and didn’t align with council policy.

Rosewood Drive runs off Amberley Beach Rd and the intention is for it to eventually link up with Hilton Drive and Pound St.

Residents celebrated the decision by having dinner together at the Railway Tavern in Amberley on June 30.

‘‘We are a fairly tight knit community in the street,’’ Gill said.