Antrim and Newtownabbey councillors have managed to reach a decision on a name for a new housing development in Ballyclare after failing to come to an agreement following a “Monopoly board” comment at a previous meeting.
Members of the borough council’s Community Planning Committee have agreed on the name of Aiken Square for a 12-dwelling development at Rashee Road at a meeting on Monday evening.
Previously, Ulster Unionist Councillor Vera McWilliam had proposed the name Marlborough Square. The other suggestions were Merchants Square and Archers Park.
DUP Councillor Jeannie Archibald Brown said that she would urge caution adding: “We do not want to sound like a Monopoly board in Ballyclare.”
She commented that the name and the other suggestions were “like something you would find in London” and that “something a bit more appropriate to the area would be better.”
At the Community Planning Committee, Aiken Square was proposed by Ballyclare Independent Councillor Michael Stewart who said he felt was “appropriate on International Women’s Day”.
A report to the committee explained that Catherine Aiken took over a small fee-paying school in Doagh and moved it to Ballyclare in 1904. She was instrumental in the formation of Ballyclare High School.
Other suggestions put forward by the developer were Richmond Square in respect of Richmond McKay who was said to have been a “very well-known and respected businessman in Ballyclare and lived adjacent to the site for most of his life” and Langhorne Square after Langhorne Clemens which was reportedly the real name of the author Mark Twain who had family links with Ballyclare.
Councilllor Stewart’s proposal was seconded by Councilllor McWilliam who agreed that Aiken Square would be “very fitting”.
Committee Chairman Councillor Mark Cooper joked: “Glad that’s sorted”.
Meanwhile, the name Knockenagh Lane was agreed for a development of 63 new homes in Newtownabbey.
Pinetree Grove will be the name of a social housing development of 26 dwellings at Belfast Road, Antrim.
