Talk:Tōtara Park

Article name: Should it be Totara Park rather than Tōtara Park?
I believe that the name of this article should be Totara Park rather than Tōtara Park. My reasons for this assertion are:
 * Totara Park, not Tōtara Park appears in the New Zealand Geographic Board Place Name Database.
 * The developer called this subdivision Totara Park, without macrons, and, as far as I can tell, that is how pretty much every one has spelt it ever since. Although Tōtara may be the correct name for the tree, the name has been corrupted by being used in conjunction with the English word Park, so should be considered an English rather than a Māori place name.
 * To be consistent with the other suburbs of Upper Hutt, several of which are clearly of Māori origin, no macrons should be used, as they are not used for those place names.

Before I move or rename the article, does anyone have a contrary view? - Cameron Dewe (talk) 13:02, 30 December 2010 (UTC)

Requested move

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: page moved. Cameron Dewe (talk) 13:01, 31 December 2010 (UTC)

Tōtara Park → Totara Park — Moved about 2 years ago from NZGB listed place name of Totara Park to Tōtara Park without discussion by a user who got the spelling wrong. Redirect page subsequently corrupted by BOT tagging the bad move, so moving back over the redirect is no longer possible. --Cameron Dewe (talk) 23:04, 30 December 2010 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Citation needed for origin of the name of Totara Park
I believe a citation is needed for the statement that:
 * Totara Park was the name for the entire eastern side of the upper valley, due to the Tōtara trees that grew there.

Histories of Upper Hutt and Hutt County suggest that Totara Park was simply the name the developer gave the subdivision. While Podocarpus totara did grow in this part of the upper Hutt valley, they were endemic to the whole upper valley and a prime candidate for the early sawmillers. There are other suburbs in Upper Hutt where the trees are, or were, just as numerous. Also, the place name is not an officially gazzetted name and its location is probably based on where the wording was placed on map NZMS260 R27 R28 Pt Q27 Edition 3 in 1996. Other maps put the name in different locations. - Cameron Dewe (talk) 07:09, 7 February 2016 (UTC)