Rochdale council has U-turned on plans to name a street after late former leader Richard Farnell, who was found to have lied under oath to the national sex abuse inquiry. A new street on the site of the old Kirkholt Working Men’s Club was to be christened ‘Richard Farnell Avenue’ - after the Labour councillor who died in 2021, aged 62.
It followed a request from local councillors who wanted to ‘recognise the contribution’ he made to the Balderstone and Kirkholt ward he represented for several years. The late Coun Farnell - who had two stints as council leader - always strongly denied misleading the inquiry.
But the controversial decision has now been reversed - and the road sign removed - after the move was fiercely criticised by Richard Scorer, the specialist abuse lawyer who represented victims at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IISCA).
