A councillor has welcomed a change of heart that means a new road on the site of the former Imperial Group tobacco factory in South Bristol will be named after an old cigarette brand. Tory Cllr Richard Eddy had slammed the original idea to call the 70-home estate “Crox View” as “ridiculous” because that name comes from an ancient woodland obscured from the incoming residents’ view by the giant Imperial Park retail centre in Bishopsworth.
He said it failed to reflect the area’s recent industrial past and challenged developers Curo housing association to come up with a “grittier” title befitting Bristol and its heritage. Now, Curo has accepted an alternative suggestion of Navy Cut Road, after the famous brand of Imperial cigarettes.
Bishopsworth ward Cllr Eddy said: “I’m delighted that both Curo Homes and Bristol City Council’s street-naming team listened positively to my views and are now proposing a far more appropriate street name.” He said council officers concluded that his initial request to give the road an “Imperial” prefix or name it after former members of the Wills family, who founded the city’s tobacco trade, could cause confusion with several existing Bristol streets that already have them.
