City square remains in limbo as council unable to rename it

BUT OLD SIGNS WILL NOT BE PUT BACK UP

- CARL EVE

COUNCIL chiefs have admitted they will not temporarily re-install the signs marking Sir John Hawkins Square while it works out what it can name it - and how it should go about it after a change in the law last year.

As far back as 2020, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests, a petition was raised to rename Sir John Hawkins Square, noting his connection as one of the most prominent slave traders in British history.

A short while later, the street names were removed by Plymouth City Council, who claimed it was concerned the signs would be vandalised and plans were afoot to rename the square.

A series of legal challenges ensued, spearheaded by Plymouth entrepreneur Danny Bamping, and rumbled on for months and then years.

In April 2023, The Herald reported how Charlotte Davies, the barrister representing Plymouth City Council at the time, penned an article of how the initial legal appeal by Mr Bamping against the removal of the signs had gone all the way to the Court of Appeal using section 18 of the Public Health Act 1925 which sets out how such an appeal can be brought.