London city councillors are asking for a fresh set of guidelines before they proceed with renaming a controversial road in the city’s west end.
Council met on Tuesday evening to continue the ongoing discussion surrounding Plantation Road, which began when 10-year-old Lyla Wheeler started to push for the city to change the road’s name.
That push has collected more than 4,100 signatures through a Change.org petition.
Ward 8 city councillor Steve Lehman brought up on Tuesday that what council is looking for “… is a process that deals with naming out streets and our town.”
“I think we need to have a process that helps us do the right thing.”
London’s current guideline for renaming street names was developed in the early 1990s, according to the city.
Ward 10 councillor Paul Van Meerbergen said he’s hoping to see two things on the new report.
One, the costs involved. Two, “proper community consultation, particularly on Plantation (Road) itself, and the residents who live there.”
Arielle Kayabaga, councillor for Ward 13, said she does not personally have any feelings towards Plantation Road’s name, but voted in favour regardless.
“As a Black woman, I don’t feel heavily offended by this specific word.”
“There are far more things in our society today that we need to combat when we talk about systemic racism.”
In June, discussing the road, Wheeler told Global News that she “was very confused about why our street was named that.”
According to the city, a list is kept of pre-approved street names from developers.
When a proposed development comes forward with new streets, the city suggests the list of street names, which are generally chosen by the developer.
If developers have requests for a specific name, they can file a request which will circulate through an internal committee.
If there are no conflicts, the street name gets the green light.
Ward 6 councillor Phil Squire said the new guidelines must “… (accomplish) what we want it to do (and) rename streets, buildings, wherever it may be where the names are offensive.”
“(But) the challenge (is), until I see what the rules are, I don’t know if we can accomplish that.”
It’s not clear when the updated guidelines are set to roll out.
— With files from 980 CFPL’s Jacquelyn LeBel