New road names to recognise influential Dunedin women

At a Council meeting yesterday, Councillors voted to approve five new road names in a Calton Hill subdivision – all of them named after influential women.

In 2022, the DCC began a process to add more names – including more influential women – to its Road Naming Register.

The register is a database of potential names of influential New Zealanders that can be chosen for new road names when new streets are formed.

The Council also sought to fast-track the road naming process, by allowing developers who choose a name from the register to skip to the end of the process.

Mayor of Dunedin Sophie Barker says, “Updating the list of names on the register is part of DCC efforts to encourage a more inclusive and representative mix of street names in our city.

“I’m delighted to see two names of prominent women that I suggested back in 2022 being used in the names approved today.

“It’s also really pleasing to see developers are picking up and running with this new approach, and that we’re seeing a more diverse representation of our shared history here in Ōtepoti Dunedin.

The process to add names to the register first requires family members’ consent, before the names are formally presented to Councillors for approval to add to the register. Family/whānau may suggest conditions on the location where the name should be used to honour the history and/or connection to the area.

The names selected for the Calton Hill subdivision are:

• Rachel Reynolds Place – is in reference to Rachel Selina Reynolds (1838-1928), a social worker and community leader involved in a wide range of social justice causes including women’s access to education, provision of welfare services to people living in poverty, and the women’s suffrage movement in the 1880s-1890s. Reynolds’ involvement in campaigns for the establishment of a girls’ secondary school and for the admission of women to the University of Otago both culminated in success in 1871, when Otago Girls’ High School first opened and the University of Otago began admitting women.
• Lusk Lane – is in reference to Doris Lusk (1916-1990), an artist, art teacher, potter and university lecturer born in Dunedin. Lusk was one of New Zealand’s pioneer potters and taught at the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts from 1966-1981. She was posthumously awarded the Governor General Art Award in 1990 to recognise her career and contributions to art.
• Fache Lane – is in reference to Ada Fache (1918-1994), the City Librarian of Dunedin from 1960-1968 who was the second woman in New Zealand to be appointed the head of a major metropolitan library. At Fache’s bequest, the Ada Fache Fund continues her legacy by providing professional development grants for library workers.
• Hinds Place – is in reference to Elizabeth Hinds (1940-1998), the director of the Toitū Otago Early Settlers Museum from 1983-1996. Hinds worked as an archaeologist in the Pacific Islands and served as the acting director of the Fiji Museum in the 1960s. Her work in Dunedin revitalised the Otago Early Settler’s Association, and with it the museum.
• Soper Close – is in reference to Eileen Louise Soper (1900-1989), an author and journalist who was first an editor of the Otago Daily Times in the 1920s and later became an associate editor for the Otago Witness until 1932. Soper published five books beginning with The Otago of Our Mothers in 1948, and later published her memoirs in three volumes from 1969-1973.

Still didn't find what you were looking for?