More than 400 people have their say on renaming SH1

More than 400 people took the time to provide feedback and to put forward suggestions for renaming State Highway 1 (SH1) once it becomes a local road.

Mayor K Gurunathan says it was great to see so many people taking an interest in the Council’s SH1 renaming conversation.

“All names suggested by the community will now be put into the mix including those names put forward by representatives/historians from the district’s three iwi and a Council-nominated local historian.

“The Council will work through a process to assess all suggestions received against the Criteria for SH1 Renaming and a shortlist of possible names will be developed in consultation with community boards and councillors before a final decision is made by the full Council,” the Mayor said.

The Council invited the Kāpiti Coast community to have their say on possible names for SH1 between 9 March and 14 April this year in preparation for when the NZ Transport Agency hands over responsibility for SH1 to the Kāpiti Coast District Council and it becomes a fit-for-purpose local road. This involves a formal process known as “revocation”.

The Mayor said the Council is looking at this now because SH1 will lose its classification as a state highway once the revocation process is complete.

“SH1 can no longer be called a state highway for address and identification purposes once it becomes a local road so we need to be ready to go to go when this happens to avoid any confusion.”

The process of renaming SH1 is being funded by the NZ Transport Agency as part of the Council’s SH1 revocation agreement with the NZ Transport Agency.

The Council expects to reach a decision on renaming SH1 before the end of the year and will notify and work with affected property owners, business operators and emergency services to ensure there is a smooth transition to the new road names. This could take up to 24 months.

21 April 2017