Calls for 'proper' consultation with public over street names and statues in Portsmouth in wake of Black Lives Matter movement
CALLS have been made for a 'proper' public consultation if Portsmouth’s council were ever to look at changing city road names or statues in light of the Black Lives Matter movement.
A motion to debate residents’ engagement on the matter is set to be discussed at full council next week, after Conservative councillor Luke Stubbs believed road names in Portsmouth such as Winston Churchill Avenue could be under threat.
Cllr Stubbs said: 'In my view the cabinet should not do anything without asking the people extensively first and I want to put that on record now.
'What we have seen is things like the Winston Churchill statue in London being targeted. We have a road named after him here and we have lots of roads named after historical figures. In my ward there is Festing Road and Dunn Close for example.
'I don't know a huge amount about their backgrounds but I'm sure if you were to dig and dig you could find something said by them that people wouldn't say now.
'We can't have a meaningless consultation on this. These landmarks and street names belong to us all.'
It comes after a series of controversies surrounding city councillors in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests. Former Tory, Cllr Linda Symes, was suspended from her party after sharing alleged racist social media posts in June.
And a petition to suspend Progressive Portsmouth People Cllr Claire Udy was signed by more than 1,800 people after she used a photo of the Winston Churchill statue in London graffitied with the words 'Churchill was a racist' on her Facebook profile.
However, leader of Portsmouth City Council, Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, said there were no plans to make ‘any such changes’. He said: ‘The notice of motion proposes Portsmouth residents should be consulted if there are ever any plans to make changes to street or building names, or statues or monuments.
‘There are no plans to make any such changes in the city.’
Two motions pledging support to the Black Lives Matter movement have also been submitted for debate at the same meeting.
Last month Portsmouth council lit the Spinnaker Tower in purple to show support for the movement.