Nobby Clark filed a notice of motion to be presented at the next council meeting on Tuesday asking for a "clear process on these issues".
While he believed the council should have a bilingual approach, an English name should be displayed first followed by te reo Māori, "given the very small number of te reo speakers".
He said his motion was prompted because of a concern within the community the council did not have a co-ordinated approach.
Concerns included some buildings having "an unequal focus on te reo", that some naming had the initial name in te reo, which created confusion, and some te reo names were not related to the nature of the building or its use, he said.
"The following process [is] a way of all parties, including staff, being clear on how council wishes to approach this issue, to avoid ongoing unease in our community."
Among his recommendations were that the council had the right to take a bilingual approach to naming and renaming buildings, to promote the use of te reo; that renaming under this bilingual approach should be on a case-by-case basis, taking into account historical heritage; and that it should take into consideration the heritage of Invercargill as it was a combination of European, Scottish and mana whenua.
"All new premises should have the bilingual approach."
When talking about signs and promotional material, the English name should be displayed first and the size of the lettering of each should be the same, he said.
"Council needs to have a clear process on these issues, with neither English or te reo being dominated by the other."
Representatives from Murikihu marae and the council’s mana whenua representatives were approached for comment but did not reply by deadline.
