Public to vote on name for North Shields town square amid political dispute over the project

On Monday morning, North Tyneside Council announced the public can select from four local heroes, ranging from escaped slaves and abolitionists to war heroes, to name the square after.

However, the local Conservatives, attacking the incumbent Labour administration, branded the new square on Bedford Street a “vanity project.”

Conservative councillor for Preston Liam Bones said: “The town square is just another white elephant from this Labour council.

"Millions have been spent on this project while the rest of our town centre is full of empty units and plagued by anti-social behaviour.

"Given that this is yet another vanity project, I am surprised the Labour party aren’t calling it ‘Dame Norma Redfearn Square’ [after the Labour mayor].”

The Labour Deputy Mayor of North Tyneside, Carl Johnson, responded: “We are investing millions into projects all over the town, including the town square and transport interchange, Northumberland Square, road infrastructure schemes, and work will soon start on the Bedford Street public realm improvements.

“These projects will make the town easier to access and more attractive to spend time in.

"Cllr Bones and the Conservative Party always talk our town down and appear to be willing it to fail, rather than try and do anything about it.

“The local Conservatives said exactly the same thing about Whitley Bay when we started the regeneration there, and now it has won national awards and been named one of the best places to live in the country.

"While Cllr Bones and the naysayers in the Conservative Party talk North Tyneside down we will continue to get on with the job and try and improve our area, which is constantly made more difficult by the Conservative government’s policies and refusals to back out funding bids.”

Residents can submit their votes on the council’s website to name the new square after one of the following contenders:

• Mrs Ellen Lee, who saved more than 30 lives after the devastating bombing of Wilkinson’s Factory in May 1941.
• Thomas Brown, a local hero and George Medal winner who rescued the Enigma codes from a sinking German U-Boat. Historians believe the discovery and decryption of the codes contributed significantly to hastening the end of World War II.
• Mary Ann Macham, who escaped slavery in Virginia, settled in North Shields, and became a prominent figure in the abolitionist movement.
• Boxing champion from Nigeria, Charles Minto, who arrived in North Shields in the 1920’s and founded the International Coloured Mutual Aid Association, assisting ethnic minority families in the town.