COMMENT: Opinions of residents need to be considered

Look at the controversy surrounding the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol.

A man who made his fortune in the slave trade, his wealth benefited his home city and resulted in his name being immortalised on streets, memorials and buildings.

But last month his statue was torn down from its plinth and dumped in the harbour during a Black Lives Matter demonstration because Colston was regarded as a symbol of an abhorrent time in our history.

It has led to a debate over how we decide whether statues of certain figures and road names should be removed or changed in light of protests from the Black Lives Matter movement.

Today we report how calls have been made for a ‘proper’ public consultation if Portsmouth City Council were ever to look at changing road names or removing statues that are deemed to have unacceptable historical connections.

A motion to debate residents’ engagement on the subject is set to be discussed at full council next week and Conservative councillor Luke Stubbs believes the cabinet should not make such decisions without first consulting extensively with residents.

As Cllr Stubbs says: 'We can’t have a meaningless consultation on this.

“These landmarks and street names belong to us all.’

We agree that people’s opinons must be taken into account as the statues and road names in their city are part and parcel of daily life.

If there is a strong feeling that some should be taken down or changed, then those voices need to be heard.