New street to be named after former union leader
A new street should be named after a locally-born trade union chief and life peer, parish councillors have decided.
Lionel “Len” Murray served as General-Secretary of the Trades Union Congress from 1973 to 1984 and became a life peer in 1976.
Planning permission for six bungalows, one detached house and two semis in Hadley, about a quarter-mile from his birthplace, was granted in August.
A report for Hadley and Leegomery Parish Council suggested a name that “reflects the history of the site, has a local connection or acknowledges the geography of the area”.
Members chose to put forward the name of Lord Murray, who died in 2004 aged 81, for consideration.
The report from Telford and Wrekin Council’s street naming and numbering division told the parish’s Finance and General Purposes Committee that the developers behind the nine-house project of Hadley Park Road had suggested “Needs Close”.
This, they said, was “after the family, deceased, which ran the local farm not far from the site”.
The report added: “In addition to the above suggestions, the following names remain on file for consideration in the Hadley and Leegomery locality: Lionel Murray (Len); John Elliot; Dr James Alan Ramsey Hanna (Alan); Terry Glider; John Smart.”
Lord Murray attended Wellington Grammar School and worked as a teacher before joining the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry in 1943 and going on to take part in the D-Day landings.
He began working for the TUC in 1947, and was elected assistant general-secretary in 1969.
Draft minutes of the committee’s meeting say members resolved “that the council proposes a street name to commemorate Len Murray, Baron Murray of Epping Forest, who was born in Gladstone Street, Hadley”.
