Huh! What is it good for?

[Gob]

A developer has told a council it does not want to name a new estate after the Battle of Waterloo because it will "promote war".



Great Torrington council in Devon wants to name the estate Waterloo Gardens after the 1815 victory over Napoleon.

But a Torridge District Council report says Pearce Construction wants to name it Merrivale Way instead, after a former factory on the site.

And the firm says the town already has an obelisk memorial to Waterloo.

The report says: "The developer suggested Merrivale Way based upon a policy of not promoting or accepting addresses that are religious, promote war, or are related to water (e.g. rivers)."

It adds that Pearce said the town already had an obelisk in Castle Hill marking the battle "and that the place of remembrance in the town for the Battle of Waterloo should remain the publicly accessible stone monument".

Town councillor Margaret Brown said: "We had a planning meeting and decided on the 200th anniversary of Waterloo to name it after the battle.

"It would be a great honour to call it Waterloo Gardens."

Fellow councillor Sue Mills said: "Wars happen, you can't help what happened.

"This is a nice way to remember people and everyone I have spoken to says Waterloo Gardens is a lovely name."

Pearce Construction declined to comment.

A final decision will be made at Torridge District Council's Community and Resources Committee on Monday.

[liberty]

Who is paying for the thing. Who ever pays for the band has the right to call the tune. I would think that would be an universal concept.

[rubato]

Hmmm The association of Waterloo is less a glorification of war for its own sake than a definitive loss for Napoleon and turning point of history. The map of Europe firmed up afterwards, gradually, and in the end the French did well enough. They kept nearly all of art they had plundered from the rest of the continent.


Maybe their real worry is Swedish cultural hegemony?




yrs,
rubato