Community Representatives needed for Review Panel
Stroud District Council is set to review street and building names, statues and architectural features to ensure they represent the community’s values – and we want to recruit two community representatives to help with this.
As part of its response to issues raised by the Black Lives Matter movement last year, the council committed to undertake a review and community consultation of any street and building names, statues and architectural features to ensure they are representative of local peoples’ values, the unique history and heritage of Stroud district, and those of an inclusive council.
The council will start this consultation in May and is setting up a Review Panel to analyse responses and put forward any appropriate recommendations.
The Panel will consist of members of the council’s Equality Working Group and external representatives. We also want to make sure that the views of our communities are included on the Review Panel, so we are recruiting two Community Representatives.
“We have a long tradition in our district of standing up for our values and against prejudice, just one example being that we have one of the only memorials to the abolition of slavery in the country. But we can do a lot more, especially to tackle racism,” said Stroud District Council Leader Doina Cornell.
“Speaking as a historian myself, I am very aware the history we learn and commemorate doesn’t always include all those voices from the past that we should hear, to make our understanding of our past richer and more profound.”
“It is important to emphasise that the process which will start in May is about promoting equality through our sense of place, and it is not just about removal versus preservation. This will be led by our community, and we will want to hear their views.”
The consultation will work within new laws announced by Government in January which say all historic statues, plaques and other monuments will now require full planning permission to remove, ensuring due process and local consultation in every case, and that the law will make clear that historic monuments should be retained and explained: http://www.gov.uk/.../new-legal-protection-for-england-s...
If you are interested in applying to be a member of the Review Panel please read the Role Description and complete the Expression of Interest form here https://bit.ly/3r9cAOO and return to policy@stroud.gov.uk
Applications close on the 11 March and interviews will take place in the afternoon of Friday 19th March.