Council debate to avoid hookers when naming new block of land

Tuesday, 23 November 2021

Gore District Arts and Heritage curator Jim Geddes suggested calling a piece of land the ‘Black Diamond’ block, referencing the Ohai coal that was transferred on the old Waimea Plains railway line. (File photo)

What’s in a name?

The Gore District Council considered calling a block of land it had bought “Black Diamond”, until a councillor said it could be dangerous given it was reference to the “Queen of the hookers” in New York in the 1970s.

The council bought a block of land at Jacobstown in 2020 to lay a new pipeline to feed into its proposed new bridge across the Mataura River, as part of a $10m water treatment plant upgrade.

The council had been referring to the 22.8531ha block after the farmers it had bought the land off, but the in-committee minutes from a full council meeting in October, which were released under the Official Information Act, say the council ‘’may want to have a name with more innovation.’’

Gore district councillor Nick Grant scuppered the idea of calling the land Black Diamond.

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It turned to its district curator Jim Geddes to ask whether there was some historical significance with the land that could be incorporated in any title.

Geddes said New Zealand author Dan Davin spent his formative years in a railway house at Jacobstown, but he suggested “Black Diamond Block” as ‘’a tip of the hat to Ohai coal that was transferred on the old Waimea Plains railway line’’.

Councillor Nick Grant told councillors he thought “Black Diamond” could be a dangerous name given it was reference to the “Queen of the hookers” in New York in the 1970s.

Cr Doug Grant said he did not think Black Diamond was relevant, and it would generate a lot of questions.

Cr Bronwyn Reid suggested since Dan Davin had spent his formative years in the area, the land could be called the Davin block.

Mayor Tracy Hicks said he was relaxed about a name, but Black Diamond or the Davin block could raise frequent questions.

Cr Neville Phillips thought it was more obvious to refer to it as Jacobstown given that was the area the land was in.

In the end, the council resolved to use Jacobstown as the name for the block of land.

The cost of the land was not noted in the minutes.