Marvin Rees has vetoed Bristol City Council’s own plans to name a new road after a cigarette brand following an outcry from health campaigners. But the mayor’s decision has sparked a fresh row after he apparently changed his story as to why he overruled the idea to call the 70-home development 'Navy Cut Road', in honour of a product manufactured at the Bishopsworth site’s former Imperial Group tobacco factory.
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, and 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 including Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) which branded the suggestion “morally unacceptable”.
