A call has been made for a street to be named after a former Mayor of Reading, after a suggestion of Electric Avenue was rejected.
Councillors in Reading recently discussed an address name for the Old Power Station development in Vastern Road, near the town centre.
The development is being undertaken by Berkeley Homes, and will see the former SSE power station south of the River Thames replaced with 209 apartments.
Councillors want the street to be named after the late former mayor and councillor Bet Tickner and made the suggestion at a recent planning meeting, and rejected suggestions of Electric Avenue and Albury Way. These reflect the former use for the site as an electric works and power station designed by architect Frederick William Albury.
Both of these names were suggested by the developer Berkeley Homes.
“Some people might think that it’s a minor part of what we do in planning, but it’s worth remembering that these names are likely to be in perpetuity written into the map of Reading, so it’s not unimportant at all actually,” said Councillor Richard Davies (Labour, Thames).
Of the suggested names he said: “Neither of these two names the ward councillors are particularly enamoured of.”
He instead suggested the street should be called Bet Tickner Way after Bet Tickner, who was a councillor for 16 consecutive years, from 2002 to 2018, and served as mayor for the municipal year of 2006 and 2007.
She died in January this year.
Cllr Davies said: “Bet was known for many things, being a hardworking councillor who cared about the area and cared about her constituents.
“The road will support sustainable travel from the river through to the station, and if we support sustainable travel it would be fitting that we named it after Bet because she was a big cyclist and a big proponent of sustainable travel, alongside the many other good qualities that she had as a councillor.
“We all thought a great deal of her and miss her, we think this would honour her appropriately.”
The suggestion received unanimous support from fellow councillors.
Cllr Karen Rowland (Labour, Abbey) said: “As a former Abbey ward colleague and the councillor that replaced Bet when she stood down in 2018, I couldn’t think of a more fitting person for a sustainable route to name this after.”
Councillors agreed to suggest Bet Tickner Way for the Old Power Station development at the planning applications committee meeting on Wednesday, May 29.
The street name will be considered by the geographic information system (GIS) team for an official decision to be made at a future planning meeting.
