Jackson Aitchison (17) was killed when his car left the road and hit a tree on an unsealed part of the road in October last year.
He had just been employed by Central Machine Hire, owned by Allan Dippie, and had just completed his last day at Mt Aspiring College before the crash.
Mr Dippie is also the owner of Willowridge Developments, which is developing the subdivision in Luggate where the new road is located.
The road, to be named Jackson Rise, will be off Pisa Rd within stage 2b of the Luggate development.
Mr Dippie said the name was chosen after an approach from the Luggate community and discussions with Jackson’s grandparents, who are Luggate residents.
The Wanaka Community Board voted yesterday to accept the name for the road. Before voting on the name, board member discussed at length the merits of naming a road after Jackson.
The name fell outside the Queenstown Lakes District Council’s road-naming policy specifically avoiding naming a road after someone who had recently died.
All community board members expressed concern about setting a precedent by naming a road after someone so young who had died only recently.
Chairwoman Rachel Brown said it was a difficult decision for the board, as members understood the significance of naming the road after Jackson, but they did not want to set a precedent where roads were used as memorials.
Board member Ed Taylor said he could not see how the naming the road after Jackson would not set a precedent for others to follow.
Board members Calum MacLeod, Ross McRobie and Ms Brown voted to accept the name. Mr Taylor’s was the only vote against the proposal, and deputy chairman Quentin Smith abstained.
Willowridge also submitted names for four other roads, including one to be named after Wanaka resident Bryan Umbers, who died last year.
The community board found Mr Umbers warranted a road being named after him because of his community involvement in Wanaka, particularly his time in the Wanaka Volunteer Fire Brigade.
