'Woke Way and Remoaner Road would be more fitting': Councillor blasts new road names
A Birmingham councillor has blasted road names given to six new Perry Barr roads – saying that ‘Woke Way’ and ‘Remoaner Road’ would have been more fitting.
But Birmingham City Council has hit back at the criticism, with cabinet member for transport and environment, Councillor Waseem Zaffar, pointing to the fact the road names were chosen by the public, not the council.
It has been announced six new roads which form part of the Perry Barr Residential Scheme have been officially named, with the names chosen through a contest in which members of the public were invited to submit their suggestions and ideas.
The winning submission was chosen by a panel of judges drawn from members of the local community, councillors and project officials, and are to be Diversity Grove, Equality Road, Destiny Road, Inspire Avenue, Respect Way and Humanity Close.
The announcement has drawn some criticism from local residents thus far, with suggestions that names that reflect local history would have been more fitting.
And Conservative Councillor Simon Morrall, who represents Frankley Great Park, has now joined them, stating: “Personally, I think “Woke Way” and “Remoaner Road” would be more fitting.
“Being critical of cringe road names doesn’t mean most Brummies don’t support these values.
“It means most Brummies, who are naturally tolerant folks, fundamentally dislike being patronised all of the time and they certainly didn’t ask for their council tax to be used to fund the privilege.
Shame
“The overwhelming backlash from fellow Brummies on social media clearly demonstrates just how out of touch this Labour-run council are with it’s citizens.”
The winning submission came from local woman Louise Kilbride, who lives just one mile away from the new streets and said she wanted to ‘reflect the diversity of the Perry Barr area’ with her suggestions.
And, responding to Councillor Morrall’s criticism, Councillor Waseem Zaffar was keen to point to this fact, calling his comments ‘ill-judged’.
He said: “These comments are misinformed and ill-judged as they completely fail to recognise that these names were chosen after being submitted by a local entrant to a public competition by a community panel that featured local residents, those working on the project and local councillors from more than one political party.
“They are values that we share in the city and also reflect the Commonwealth Sport Movement values of Humanity, Equality and Destiny – which is entirely appropriate given our status as Host City for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
“It is disappointing that Councillor Morrall does not appear to share these values or respect the views of the selection panel.
“If he feels so passionately about street naming, it is a real shame he didn’t submit a competition entry of his own.”
