Friday 6 February 2015

Developer blocks tribute to Town Councillor

Foreman Homes have said no to the Town Council's plan to recognise Cllr Raymond Hicks' service to the community. Asked to suggest street names for a new development between St John's Road and Dodwell Lane, councillors suggested Hicks Avenue along with Hellyar Drive, Blyth Gardens and Maidman Place.

Raymond Hicks was a long standing town councillor, chair of the council in 1994, chair of the community services committee, and campaigner for people with disabilities. But Foreman Homes reckon potential buyers of their "good quality, affordable homes" might be put off because "hick" is a term for poor white people in the United States.

As you can see in the screen grab from Zoopla, it hasn't stopped properties in Hicks Avenue, Greenford, changing hands for in excess of £400,000.

And Foreman Homes have been marketing "Larchfield" in Totton as "a beautiful development of stylish 4 bedroom detached family homes on the edge of the New Forest". Yet "larch" according to the urban dictionary is a synonym for human faeces in the US. Have they "done a larch" on Hedge End in turning down our request to honour a local stalwart?

Oh, and by the way, James Hellyar was the first district councillor for the parish of Hedge End in 1894, Joyce Blyth wrote a two-part history of Hedge End in 1979 and 1981, and Charles Maidman was parish clerk during the Great War.

2 comments:

  1. Just proves how sycophantic and self obsessed Councillors are - naming roads after themselves. How about a hospice or dementia nurse, a local Guide leader, a youth/football club coach or other volunteers that do not seek recognition for themselves but work tirelessly for the local community? It shows a great lack of imagination to simply open the old records at the Town Council and choose a few random names. And to name a road after a Parish Clerk is rather insulting! Based on today's model, their purpose is to stop community and local events from happening rather than offering support and help.

    I agree with the above subscriber - Motorway View or Cacaphony would be more apt names than those above.

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  2. Maidman Place sounds great to me but then its my surname!! Charles Maidman was my husbands Great Grandad.

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