A recreation ground could be renamed after a prominent anti-apartheid campaigner who lived nearby for more than two decades.
Haringey Council plans to rename Albert Road Recreation Ground in Muswell Hill after Oliver Reginald Tambo – a South African anti-apartheid activist who was president of the African National Congress between 1967 and 1991.
If councillors give their approval at a meeting next week, the park will become known as O.R. Tambo Recreation Ground.
Although the proposal is not part of a review of monument, building, place and street names in Haringey announced following the Black Lives Matter demonstrations last summer, a council report states that it is being considered “under the same ethos for change”.
It says renaming the park is a way of “recognising the contribution residents of Haringey have made to diversity and equality across the globe”.
According to the report, it is thought the recreation ground was named after Albert Road, which is believed to have taken its name from Prince Albert, husband to Queen Victoria.
The report adds that “for a number of years, it has been suggested that the ground be renamed to reflect the proud and long-standing history that (it) has with O.R. Tambo”.
Mr Tambo lived in exile near the recreation ground for more than two decades, beginning in the 1960s, and used it daily. The park features two memorials to Mr Tambo, which were donated by the people of South Africa through the South African High Commission.
A consultation on the proposed renaming held in October and November last year drew 730 responses, with 51 per cent in favour of changing the name and 49 per cent against.
The report says renaming the ground “will both recognise the proud and long-standing history that the site has with O.R. Tambo and also reflect and further enhance the values that contribute towards Haringey being the vibrant, inclusive and multi-cultural borough that it is”.
Councillors will decide whether to approve the renaming at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, which will be broadcast online from 6.30pm.
Details of how to watch the meeting are available here.
- We’ve launched a new Facebook group for politics fans in the borough. Please join the conversation over at North London politics – Barnet, Enfield and Haringey.
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