'Bangays Way' to keep name despite complaints from gay couple

The controversy surrounding Bangays Way in the village of Borough Green, Kent, may finally have been put to bed, after the local council rejected a local gay couple’s complaint that the name was offensive and should be renamed.

The new cul-de-sac was named after a well-known parish councillor, Frank Bangay, who passed away in 1999. Last month, it was revealed that Phil Tucker and his husband Ian had taken offense at the sign, however, saying the added ‘s’ was an unnecessary addition to the name that has changed its meaning.

“My husband and I went to look round the new development. Having got over the initial humour, we reflected that this street name was actually pretty offensive,” Mr Tucker said at the time.

“Somehow seeing it on the sign made it look even worse. We are pretty sure the sign will be subject to frequent vandalism and possible theft.

“Apparently Frank Bangay was a local historian. Many local roads are named after local families. But only in one instance did an ‘s’ get tacked on the end.

Once Mr Bangay’s daughter got involved, saying she was insulted by the complaint, and local MP Tom Tugendhat backed calls for the road to be renamed to ‘Frank Bangays Way’, the row looked set to tear the local community apart.

However, Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council has now announced that the name of the new cul-de-sac will be staying, the Sevenoaks Chronicle reports.

The borough council said that after carrying out a consultation with local residents, there was not enough support to proceed with a name change.

In a letter to those who had taken part in the consultation, council solicitor Adrian Stanfield said the residents of Bangays Way had objected to re-naming it. Of the eight submissions from households on the road, five wanted the name to remain.

“Paragraph 5.3 of the council’s street naming and numbering policy requires that any change to a street name will require a minimum of two thirds support from the local residents for any change as this can be very disruptive and cause individuals to have to change all of their personal address details,” he said.

Here’s hoping time can heal the wounds this saga has inflicted on the local community.

‘Bangays Way’ to keep name despite complaints from gay couple

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