AN UNPOPULAR Old Town development should be named after something similarly controversial, parish councillors said.

South Swindon Parish Council had been asked to help come up with names for a snaking road in the new Ambrose Field development off Croft Road.

But councillors decided against sending any recommendations to the borough council’s housing department, after struggling to come up with anything suitable.

Coun Patrick Herring got some laughs when he suggested: “Seeing as this was a development pretty much nobody wanted, perhaps we should name the streets after things nobody wants.”

Coun Nadine Watts, an Old Town ward councillor who was one of those who protested the bid by Taylor Wimpey to build 62 homes on the greenfield site said: “The naming schedule in the area is generally after the Goddard family. I’m trying to think of a different way to go.”

Old Town parish councillor Nick Burns-Howell did not believe naming the road after a Goddard family member would be appropriate: “It was the Goddard Trust that sold the land and I think a number of councillors tried to contact the trust to find a more appropriate use of this land.”

He suggested speaking to residents to get their suggestions for names for the road. But Chris Watts, chairman of the parish council, advised against it: “There was such universal opposition from residents to this development.”

However, veteran councillor Stan Pajak recommended it be named after famous Victorian architect George Gilbert Scott.

“He’s the architect of St Mark’s and Christ Church and has no recognition in the town,” he added. “A great man who’s not remembered, but he has a great connection to Swindon.”

Fellow council veteran Barrie Thompson suggested Scott’s name should be held for something more substantial, “a large block of flats, for example”.

Last week, the Ambrose Fields development passed its final hurdle as borough council planners approved a reserved matters application. Standard in larger developments like this, it sets out things like the precise appearance of houses and landscaping.

Coun Nadine Watts described its passing through borough planners’ hands as a formality: “It’s no surprise, because once the outline planning application was in place it was only a matter of time before the detailed one would go through.”

Residents kicked up a considerable fuss over the development last year. A petition against it was signed by more than 1,000 people. When it was approved by the borough planning committee, parish council chairman Chris Watts described the decision as “the final nail in the coffin for local self-determination”.