List of South London roads under consultation that have slave trade …

Merton Council is asking locals what they want to do about roads named after people with links to the slave trade. However, the authority said it is not proposing changing the names of relevant roads. A public consultation on what to do comes after a request from the council’s Wimbledon Forum.

It relates to Marryat Road, Marryat Place, Burghley Road and Draxmont. The four roads are associated with the Burghley, Drax and Marryat families who all have links to the slave trade. There is also a Drax Avenue in Wimbledon, but this is privately owned.

A council meeting back in October heard that changing a street name would need agreement from 80per cent of residents and the council would have to compensate residents for any costs they would incur. For this reason, the council said it would “seem prohibitive”. The council said fixing information on existing signs about their history would cost around GBP250 per sign.

Merton [2] Council’s consultation reads: “We are not proposing to change the names of any roads. For privately owned roads, we can only suggest actions that those residents may wish to take. “However, it is important to acknowledge this history and the impact these individuals’ actions have had, and continue to have, on our society.

We would like to consult with residents of those roads, along with other interested individuals or groups.” The consultation opened on April 14 and is due to close on May 31. It can be found here [3].

Sign up to MyLondon’s FREE South London newsletter

From Croydon to Catford, Peckham to Putney, MyLondon wants to make sure you get the latest news, reviews and features from your part of South London.

Now there’s a way you can keep up to date with the areas that matter to you with our FREE email newsletter. The South London newsletter goes out twice day and sends you the latest stories straight to your inbox. To sign up to the South London newsletter, simply follow this link and select the newsletter that’s right for you.[4]

And to really customise your news experience on the go, you can download our top-rated free apps for iPhone and Android.

Find out more here.[5]

References

^ South London school that changed its ‘slave trader’ name hits back at claims it’s ‘cancelling’ Sir Francis Drake (www.mylondon.news)
^ Merton (www.mylondon.news)
^ found here (%20https)
^ simply follow this link and select the newsletter that’s right for you. (www.mylondon.news)
^ here. (www.mylondon.news)