Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees vetoes road being named after cigarette brand

The Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees has vetoed the council's own plans to name a new road after a cigarette brand.

The new street in south Bristol was set to be called 'Navy Cut Road' in honour of a product made at the Bishopsworth former Imperial Group tobacco factory.

But the mayor has overruled the idea to name the 70-home development, after opposition from health campaigners.

It is the latest twist in a saga that began when the council’s street-naming team originally put forward the name of 'Crox View'.

Tory ward Cllr Richard Eddy objected to the “ridiculous” idea because residents’ views of the nearby woodland the name comes from, Crox Bottom, is blocked by huge Imperial Park retail centre.

He challenged the local authority and developers Curo housing association to come up with a more “gritty” title reflecting the industrial heritage.

The council’s department proposed four alternatives, all based on Imperial tobacco products, with Navy Cut Road agreed by all.

But the Labour mayor then stepped in to review the decision following criticism from cancer charities and campaigners which branded the suggestion “morally unacceptable”.

Mr Rees has now agreed that the name is "inappropriate" and blocked it.

In a written reply at member forum, he told Labour Cllr Brenda Massey: “The administration has made a decision that we will not name streets after tobacco brands.

“We’ll announce the name of this road in due course," he added.

He also said, in an answer to opposition Cllr Eddy, that while naming roads after tobacco brands was “questionable”, all four suggestions – Strand Road, Passing Clouds Road, Gold Flake Road, and Navy Cut Road – would also “contravene the street-naming policy due to current commercial connections.

Mr Rees said that although Navy Cut Tobacco cigarettes were continued in 2016, Wills Navy Cut was still imported to and sold in the UK, while the other three products either continued to be on sale or remained a registered trademarked product of Imperial Tobacco or related companies.

Credit: Adam Postans, Local Democracy Reporter