Streets in Bristol hold slaver’s identify to save lots of money
Plans to rename streets honouring the philanthropist slave dealer Edward Colston have been scrapped because of prices.
There had been calls to revive the medieval names for Colston Street and Colston Avenue in Bristol, following protests by Black Lives Matter activists, which noticed the toppling of his statue in 2020.
It was then pushed into Bristol harbour.
Historian and TV presenter David Olusoga, who was concerned in a fee inspecting town’s previous, in contrast the motion to the toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
But after inspecting the logistics of switching the names, town council has now dropped proposals, stating it had not seen sufficient assist from residents to justify inconveniencing them and heaping the price of modifications on them.
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Responding to a Freedom of Information request, a council spokesman stated: “We require that all property owners on a given street provide their consent for its name to be changed, as such a move incurs administrative costs for those individuals/businesses to change legal documents. We have no plans to change this position.”
In December 2020, a council chief confirmed the historic metropolis centre streets might have their medieval names restored within the wake of the Colston statue being torn down.
Bristol has honoured the businessman’s reminiscence for hundreds of years after he bequeathed his wealth to charities on his demise in 1721. Steep Street was renamed Colston Street and St Augustine’s Back or Bank, Colston Avenue.
Colston Street residents lobbied their councillor, writing letters and submitting a petition, asking for the unique Steep Street identify to be restored, and likewise asking for Colston Avenue’s unique identify to be restored in 2020.
At the time, Cllr Kye Dudd, town cupboard head of transport and power, backed their concept and stated he would assist make it occur.
He, Bristol council and David Olusoga have been contacted for remark by the Sunday Express.