Some of south Auckland’s newest streets feature a taste of India.
Manurewa’s newest street has been named Sukh Lane, while in Papakura, new residents will live in Bhanghal Lane.
Manurewa Local Board chair Glenn Murphy says ‘Sukh’ comes from the Indian / Punjabi culture and indicates an “abode of comfort, joy or happiness”.
“It’s a welcome nod to the valued members of our community with close ties to India.”
The street naming process requires developers to suggest names. Mana whenua can provide insights that maintain a link to a person, event or historic activity too, but sometimes have no strong view.
“It’s why we see more te reo Māori names being used, and that’s a good thing because it helps bring te reo into our daily lives,” Murphy says.
“Other names can still be used and in this instance ‘Sukh’ had an Indian origin, while the alternates provided, sometimes picked up if a board does not favour the proposed name, were Baattari – from Somalia, and Kailay, another Punjabi word.”
Papakura Local Board chair Brent Catchhole says the council’s street naming policy has seen many new te reo names added.
“It’s nice to see names being put forward from other cultures too. We are home to a great number of people from many ethnic backgrounds and using names and words that represent those cultures helps celebrate that.
“In this case the developer suggested Bhangal to honour his great grandfather, suggesting Kesar and Parkash as alternatives – the first names of his late mother and father.
“It’s nice to see another culture acknowledging its roots – whakapapa – especially when the Indian community has been so strong in our area for such a long time and has a growing importance and presence.”
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