A PETITION signed by over 2,000 local people to name a Westbury road after a popular headteacher, stumbled at the first hurdle last month, when a committee of Westbury Town Council rejected the idea.
The petition to name a road after Matravers headteacher Nigel Gilhespy, who died soon after retiring from his post, begun at a school reunion in 2014. It has since gathered support from ex-students as far afield as Malaysia and New Zealand.
But organisers were left disappointed when the town council’s highways, planning and development committee had a tied vote on the name. Four councillors voted for, four against, and the meeting chair, cllr Francis Morland abstained, refusing to use his casting vote.
Former Westbury mayor and now Wiltshire councillor, Horace Prickett, who was a colleague of Nigel’s at Matravers, and was instrumental in organising the petition, was furious.
Cllr Prickett said, “I’m extremely disappointed in Westbury Town Council’s response to the petition, and ashamed that they could not recognise the importance of this. Road names put forward by the planners were no good and just dedicated to the town’s surrounding villages; there’s no need for another Bratton Road or Edington Road.
“An argument advanced at the meeting was that ‘such people should be dead for 100 years before we give them any recognition’.
“Come off it Westbury councillors, you have a road named after Dr. Salisbury, and fine recognition that is for someone who worked hard for the good health of the town.
“I do not believe he has been dead for 100 years, or if he has been, can someone please tell me just when he died? Do you not have Kendrick Close and Primmers Place, Shoreland Close and Boulton Close, even Stephenson Road?
“You can name a road after someone who delivered nothing to the town and never even came here, but not after one who gave so much to improve the education of your sons and daughters? This argument holds no water at all!”
Fellow campaigner Radek Evans said, “I was very disappointed by the way the petition was received. A lot of people clearly care about this and respected Nigel a lot. A councillor said he was shocked by the result, and had never seen a stalemate like that before.
“We had collected around 2,200 signatures and are still hoping people will jump on board with the campaign. The council kept the petition and will be discussing it at upcoming meetings.
“I hope that as more councillors are consulted, more of them will support us in getting the road named to honour Nigel, who had a huge impact on people in the town.
“I’d like to thank everyone who has signed the petition, and for those who put up with me knocking on their doors!”
With a decision in stalemate, the road naming issue will be discussed by all the town councillors at a full council meeting. Campaigners are hoping that they can persuade other councillors to vote for Gilhespy Way.
Permission was granted earlier this year for 220 homes to be built on land opposite The Mead. Campaigners hoped that Gilhespy Way will be accepted as a name for one of the estate’s roads.
Nigel Gilhespy was headteacher at Matravers School from 1986 to 2005, and is regarded to have played a big part in transforming the school from a rural studies institute to the comprehensive secondary school it is today.
Following recommendations for road names from the full town council, Wiltshire Council will make the final decision on names.
You can sign the petition online at www.tinyurl.com/px6uk32
