Agenda item
Change of Borough Ward Names
- Meeting of General Purposes Committee, Tuesday, 6th October, 2020 5.30 p.m. (Item 5.5)
- View the background to item 5.5
Minutes:
Robert Curtis, Head of Electoral Services, introduced the report which set out a recommendation for the Council to consider changing three borough ward names. It was noted that the recommendation was originally made during the consultation for the Polling District and Polling Places review in 2019 and determined by Full Council on 15 January 2020.
One of the Consultation responses from the Local Campaigns Forum of the Labour Party, there had been a recommendation that the Council initiate the required steps to amend three ward names, namely;
- Bethnal Green Ward to change to Bethnal Green East
- St Peters Ward to change to Bethnal Green West
- Canary Wharf Ward to change to Millwall.
It was noted that the recommendation did not empower the Council to undergo the required process as it wasn’t considered to be a formal request however it was considered that it be brought to the Committee to decide if it should be acted on.
It was noted that The Committee had received correspondences from both the Ward Councillors for Canary Wharf in favour and against the changing of the ward name for Canary Wharf Ward.
During a brief discussion, the following was noted;
- That the request to make this change had not come from Ward Councillors or local residents.
- That local residents referred to the area as Canary Wharf, the train stations were named as Canary Wharf and so would Crossrail once it was opened.
- That the name Millwall is often referred to as the Football Club which was located in the Deptford/Lewisham area.
- That the renaming of the Canary Wharf Ward to Millwall would still exclude much of the historic Millwall area such as Millwall Park and other historic sections of the area.
- Concerns noted that the name Canary Wharf was associated with a large commercial entity.
- Canary Wharf Ward’s current natural boundary on two sides follows the Millwall Inner Dock and Millwall Outer Dock water.
- Only part of the Canary Wharf estate falls within the ward named Canary Wharf, the remainder was situated in Blackwall and Cubitt Town.
- Renaming the ward would reclaim the area’s own historic name.
- The Committee, generally had no reservations for reviewing the ward names for Bethnal Green and St Peters as it was thought it would help avoid the current confusion residents have when looking for their Councillors in the Bethnal Green area and would be an obvious way to divide the geographic boundary.
- That all councillors should receive a copy of the Submissions to the Polling Districts and Polling Places Review 2019, to note any changes in their wards.
At this point the Chair called for a vote;
With 6 For and 1 Against it was a majority decision to agree on Recommendation 2 of the report.
Councillor Peter Golds asked for his dissent to be recorded.
Accordingly, by a majority vote the General Purposes Committee
RESOLVED
1. To formally review the changes to Borough ward names which would be taken to Full Council to determine.
Supporting documents:
- Change of Borough Ward Names, item 5.5 PDF 351 KB
- Enc. 1 for Change of Borough Ward Names, item 5.5 PDF 438 KB