Issue - meetings

The purpose of this report is to receive the recommendations of the Review Panel in the review of street or building names and monuments in the Stroud District.

The Chair of the Review Panel, Councillor Bennett, introduced the report and advised that since the worldwide Black Lives Matter protests in June 2020, the Council had committed to carrying out consultation with its communities and undertaking a review of any street and building names, statues and architectural features in the district that may have been considered offensive. They thanked the Review Panel for all of the work they had put into the review over the last 11 months. A public consultation had been launched in 2021 and over 1600 responses were received which helped the panel to compile the recommendations laid out in the report. The Review Panel had concluded, following the consultation, that the Blackboy Clock and Statue should not be on display in the public realm but should be redisplayed with detailed interpretation in a place that provided learning and education. The recommendation that Council was being asked to consider was to explore if removal of the statue could be achieved. Councillor Bennett also drew Members attention to the additional recommendations of the Review Panel.

Councillor Bennett invited some of the Review Panel Members, who attended the meeting, to give their thoughts.

Mr Guthrie, community representative on the Review Panel, highlighted the following:

·         They had written to the council in June 2020 regarding the clock

·         Thanked the Review Panel members, family and friends for support

·         They had taken the time to read through the 1600 responses and take on board what the consultations responses said.

·         Asked Members to think of the report as a series of starting points rather than an ending

·         The conversation about how the district could become more inclusive for everybody needed to continue.

Ms Hoskin, community representative on the Review Panel, highlighted the following:

·         Impressed by the thoroughness of Stroud District Council in conducting the public consultation and the processing of the results.

·         People were beginning to realise that diversity enriched communities.

·         Encouraged by the proposal of a task force that could implement some of the ideas.

Mr Butler, historian and member of Radical Stroud on the Review Panel, highlighted the following:

·         The conception of education should go beyond the demographic of youth.

·         Resources should be developed for community education in a variety of accessible ways, means and media.

·         Community education could strengthen community cohesion.

The chair thanked the Review Panel members.

Councillor Pearson raised concerns regarding the validity of the consultation results and whether it was a representative snapshot of views across the district. Councillor Bennett confirmed that based on the electorate for the district, which was around 96000, a representative sample would be 1,058 with a margin of error of 3%. The number of consultation responses received was above the numbers needed for a standard representative sample for the district.

In response to further questions from Councillor Pearson, Councillor Bennett confirmed that until January 2022 they believed that the residents of the building owned the clock and statue and they had consulted with them. However, it became apparent that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52