Streets on new Telford estate could be named after former councillors
The names of four former mayors have been put forward as potential street names at a new housing development in Telford.
Wellington Town Council member Frank Burns died earlier this month, while former councillor Mary Lewis passed away in March. Both were Labour members who had served two terms as mayor and were described as “esteemed members of the community” by colleagues.
The town council planning committee submitted their names to Telford and Wrekin Council to consider for use on the five streets of a 103-house estate under construction between on land between Arleston Lane and Dawley Road, Arleston.
Members also suggested Denis Allen and Peggie Harrison, who represented Ukip and Labour respectively and passed away in 2018 and 2010 respectively.
Deputy town clerk Andrew Roberts told the committee he would submit all four for consideration, but added that the borough council “normally insist on family consent as well”.
Proposing Councillor Burns’ and Mrs Lewis’s names be used, Councillor Lisa Jinks said: “They were both very esteemed members of the community who we have recently lost, and I think their passing ought to be correctly marked.”
Vacancy
Mr Roberts told councillors that, in advance of the meeting, he had contacted Telford & Wrekin Council and suggested Councillor Burns’ and Mary Lewis’s names “because I felt sure those were going to be recommended”.
He said: “Normally they only ever include one part of the name, so it would be ‘Burns Way’, ‘Lewis Way’, ‘Frank Way’, ‘Mary Close’ or whatever.”
Councillor Jinks also suggested Mr Allen, while committee chairman John Alvey added Miss Harrison’s name.
Mr Roberts said he would submit all four names, and pointed out that Miss Harrison represented Arleston, the site of the new houses, both on Wellington Town Council and the former Wrekin District Council.
The death of Councillor Burns, who was also a school governor and a founder member of the Wellington Regeneration Board, has created a vacancy in the three-member Haygate ward he represented. A notice on the town council’s website says an election can be held if 10 voters, registered within the ward, write to the returning officer and request one.
“Please note that, if an election is requested, a poll cannot take place until May 6, 2021, as a result of the 2020 Coronavirus Act and Regulations,” it adds.
If those 10 requests are not received, it says, the town council must co-opt a new member.
