STREET and building names in Penarth with possible links to slavery will not need to be renamed, the Welsh Government has advised in its audit review into street and building names associated with the slave trade and the British Empire.
Clive Place, Clive Crescent, and the Clive Arms Hotel were all deemed in the green category, meaning “persons of interest are not commemorated”.
The review advises that while the names are associated with colonist Lord Robert Clive, they do not commemorate him.
Plassey Street, which had been marked as another potential link to slavery, was not included in the audit review.
The report was commissioned by First Minister Mark Drakeford in July in response to the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests.
Published yesterday, the audit was led by Gaynor Legall, and shows the slave trade was embedded in the Welsh economy and society and reflected in many statues, street and building names today.
It identified 209 monuments, buildings or street names, located in all parts of Wales, which commemorate people who were directly involved with the slavery and the slave trade or opposed its abolition.
The Vale council is carrying out its own review, with a deadline for suggested commemorations to be reviewed set for January 31.
Hilary Brown, co-chairman of Stand Up To Racism Vale, which has been invited on the council’s task board to discuss links to slavery in the region, said: “It’s important to undertake an audit even if it is decided that no street or building names in the Vale should be removed.
“We feel it is important to teach everyone about the history of these names, and to tell the stories of how these names came to be. A separate discussion to that is what needs to be done if it is decided these names should not have been given in the first place.
“I would like to see the findings of the Welsh Government audit properly shared with the Vale council, prior to consultation with us.
“We haven’t heard from the Vale council at all on this. We are waiting with baited breath for that to happen.”
Resident Nick Schroeter welcomed the findings of the review, saying: “We are talking about things that happened hundreds of years ago, and slavery is such a diverse topic and has happened throughout history.
“I’m not saying it’s right, but I do believe we need to learn from it and move on.
“Even if these road names were changed, people will still call them the same names. I feel especially during a pandemic these reviews are a waste of resources.”
Dinas resident Richard Winder added: “This generation needs to be aware of this stain on our history and to know of the terrible conditions on the slave ships and in the plantations, and also of the inhumanity of the gang masters and of the unimaginable obscenities of the punishments handed out.
“If this means changing street names, moving statues, or educating as to how the money to build many of our great historic houses came from, then so be it.
“We cannot change the past but we have the opportunity to do something positive to empathise with the feelings of our fellow countrymen, many of whom will have a history of slavery in their family long ago.”
The Vale council has been contacted for a response.
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