Slag Lane: Ten year battle over ‘rude’ street sign as council reinstates it despite residents’ objections

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A ‘rude’ street sign is about to be reinstated despite backlash from the individuals who reside there.

The identify ‘Slag Lane’ has lengthy stirred debate in Westbury, Wiltshire, with some residents pondering it offensive and in want of fixing whereas others argue it is simply a part of native historical past.

In the newest improvement within the decade-long saga, Wiltshire Council has ordered new indicators to switch ones that mysteriously vanished round 5 years in the past.

In 2014, the city council determined towards a bid to rename the street ‘Lakeside View’’. The unique identify comes from the slag piles at close by Westbury Ironworks.

In the years that adopted, Google Streetview confirmed the sign toppled on its facet in 2016 after which disappearing altogether two years later.

Some Westbury residents suspected an area who opposed the ‘offensive’ identify might be the offender however the council mentioned the sign was eliminated after it was hit by a bus.

Locals have taken to Facebook to share their assist as they backed the return of the indicators with the unique identify.

Gren Nelon mentioned: “It’s part of the social history of the area. History should never be hidden or altered to appease modern woke sensibilities.”

Giles Myhill shared his frustration and mentioned: “I know exactly where this is and had noticed that the sign had gone. No doubt it is the people who have chose to live there who are complaining about the name.”

Jax Armes added: “The name refers to the industrial history of the area. It’s only modern smutty minds that have turned it into something else.”

At the time of the controversy over the identify, city councillor Russell Hawker mentioned: “The committee decided that the name Slag Lane is historic and appropriate in this context, and that new residents moving into homes in Slag Lane knew perfectly well the name of the road before they moved.”

The lane lies subsequent to an previous manufacturing facility, Westbury Ironworks which operated between 1859 and 1933. Today, open pits crammed with water are all that stay of the previous business.

Cllr Caroline Thomas, cupboard member for transport and street scene, mentioned, “Following a request raised through the Local Highways and Footway Improvement group last April, with support from Westbury Town Council, new replacement signage was ordered for Slag Lane in Westbury.

“Whilst we are unsure what had happened to the original signage, the replacement signage has now been delivered and has been programmed for installation in due course as part of our local highways maintenance programme.”