Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Council vote last night confirms Blackboy Lane name change
Last night the Council's Corporate Committee voted to change the name of Blackboy Lane to La Rose Lane. The change comes after a drawn out process started by the previous Council leader in 2020.
The vote came after a 'further period of consultation' which ended last month. The report sent to committee last night summarised the vote conducted during the 'further consultation' as showing 78% of all respondents being against the name change, 22% in favour. The voting of Blackboy Lane residents was very similar.
The introduction of the report sent to committee on the issue said
If the Committee decides not to make the Order, (it) would demonstrate that the Council has actively sought local resident views, the majority of whom object to the proposal....
a decision not to make an Order would mean that the name which has been found to be offensive by local residents and visitors to the borough would continue to be in place. The catalyst for the consideration of this renaming was the establishment of the Commission on Diversity in the Public Realm by the Mayor of London. Not going ahead with the renaming at this point would not capitalise on the momentum created by the Black Lives Matter movement
The report to Committee also recommended:
a support package including a ‘voluntary payment’ of £300 and administrative assistance be made available to all households and businesses of Black Boy Lane to minimise any inconvenience resulting from the processes required to reflect the renaming.
I do not currently have details on whether or not this part of the recommendation was also accepted.
The name will change to La Rose Lane from 1st February 2023.
Download the full report from Haringey Council's website here.
I won't go through the arguments for and against as they have already been well-rehearsed on this site.
- main HoL discussion on this issue here.
- last discussion about the reviving of this issue last Novemeber here.
- all conversations about the issue here.
Thanks to Lydia Walter for flagging up an item on Radio London this morning about last night's vote.
Tags for Forum Posts: blackboy lane name change
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Brian Mahoney on
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Yes, another example of local views being over ruled and historical facts and context either being ignored or deliberately misinterpreted.
What do Haringey Labour hope to achieve? There is no benefit, no problem that needs fixing. It's warped ideology and autocratic power exercised by a small handful of councillors from the wonkiest faction of the Labour party.
Other London branches are shaking their heads at this too.
What else could be done with the money?
Several teachers, a youth centre or two, local employment and skills programmes, aged care, fixing all the potholes etc etc etc
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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For people who haven't seen it, can I please ask you to look at my post yesterday in the previous segment of this discussion thread. I suggested that the way this issue has been handled reflects the current politics of the Haringey Labour Group. With the pro-Ejiofor 'wing' or 'faction' now tipping the balance in the Corporate Committee membership. Though thankfully, not the Labour Group as a whole.
https://harringayonline.com/forum/topics/council-launches-consultat...:
Cllr Ejiofor and his allies have put much time and effort into a street renaming. Such a pity that while they controlled the Council, they didn't put equal effort into avoiding entirely unnecessary expenditure of millions of pounds of public cash on dubious property dealings.
Latest instalment:
https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/crime/police-investigation-into-hari...
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This creates a legal challenge for the council.
It is clear from the discussions that I have had with Afro-Caribbean residents and friends that the name is a name and is not found offensive. It is also clear that an interested minority has been determined to drive this through, with the help of potentially racially biased council officers suggesting that this should go ahead.
Unfortunately, this now opens Haringey to a legal challenge. Our legal system is governed by precedent and Lord Justice Glidewell created a legal definition of consultation which the council has failed to follow throughout the process.
Legal%20Definition%20of%20Consultation.pdf
If there are any in the legal profession who are interested in making a name for themselves in a public interest forum, please make yourselves know.
I am more than interested in exploring the legal ramifications of the actions taken by this council.
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Permalink Reply by Straw Cat on
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The current law of consultation is known as the Gunning Principles:
1. it must be done at a formative stage
2 there must be sufficient information
3.must have adequate time for consideration and response
4 conscientious consideration must be given to the responses before a decision is madeand these were codified in the Supreme Court in 2014 in R ex parte Moseley v LB Haringey.
Note who the losing party above was. In fact Haringey has a shit record of consultation over many years, losing many other cases including 2007 when they tried to flog off the Alexandra Palace to a former slum landlord.
I noticed that in the BBL committee they were legally advised by the monitoring officer to, and did, formally consult the residents of the Lane. The majority of whom opposed the change.
So the question is, whether rule no 4 above was followed.
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We should know the names of those council officers. Ordinarily I wouldn't say that as they're not decision makers but if they've been pushing this agenda they are exceeding their remit and should be exposed.
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I've seen Clr Chandawalli (sorry if the spelling is wrong?) post on here. Maybe she could enlighten us?
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Permalink Reply by Jim Walsh on
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I would entirely agree with Brian's comment also Alan Stanton's very nuanced and enlightening comment.
i would like to hear more of this.
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Its this sort of thing that puts me and I guess others from voting Labour. Any Labour councillors here care to make a comment on this decision?
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So on the evening before the energy price cap rose by 56%, pushing up the average household’s annual energy bill by £693, the Labour led council of Haringey (a council with one of the highest rates of poverty, and some of the poorest constituents, in the country) voted to spend £180,000 on a vanity project to change the name of a road (despite it being opposed by 78% of respondents to a local consultation). You really couldn’t write it!
Alan makes a good point about there being different factional interests within the Labour Party. But ultimately, those factions are all in the same party and stand together on the same ticket. I hope local residents vote for change in the May elections!
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What difference does it make as Labour will win the borough again like they have for decades and they know it. Labour run Haringey have cut important services and are cutting more in the future but are willing to throw £180,000 to rename a street. Its an astonishing act of incompetent financial ineptitude. Anyone from the council involved in this decision care to go on the record here at HoL and explain why this has happened and for what purpose? No I doubt it.
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