Te Manu Reserve officially named

The Reserve that had been informally known as Emano East Reserve now has an official name – Te Manu Reserve.

The name Emano East Reserve was allocated informally by Parks officers in the 1990s, simply for identification purposes in the Council’s systems. The name was based on the street name, and the fact there was an Emano Reserve across the road (now part of Pipers Reserve).
In 2017 Council advertised its intention to ask the Minister of Conservation to remove the reserve status of the land. Following the level of interest from the local community and users of the reserve demonstrated in the consultation process, Council decided to retain the reserve.

This process also prompted the establishment of a community group who, after meeting with local iwi, requested that the reserve be named Te Manu Reserve.

Te Manu is the commonly known name of Wi Katene Te Puoho, the Ma-ori chief of Wakapuaka that Emano St was incorrectly named after. Te Manu was the chief of Wakapuaka, the son of Te Puoho ki Te Rangi, the Nga-ti Tama ariki (paramount chief) and warrior, and the father of Hu-ria Ma-tenga who was involved in the crew of the Delaware rescue. Te Manu (meaning The Bird) earned his nickname from his renowned singing voice.

Council will work with iwi and interested members of the community group to develop an information panel to be installed at the Reserve to recognise the historical importance of the Reserve’s new name.

See a map on Top of the South Maps