Controversial plans to name a north-east street after William Wallace have been resurrected.
A row broke out between Fraserburgh councillors when proposals to christen part of a new housing development near the town’s Quarry Road in memory of the “Braveheart” Scot were first tabled.
Local SNP members Brian Topping and Charles Buchan backed naming the area William Wallace Way when the issue was discussed at a meeting of the port’s community council.
But the move was criticised by former SNP councillor Ian Tait – who now sits on the local authority as an Independent member – who said Wallace had no links with the town and claimed the idea was “blatantly political”.
Aberdeenshire Council’s Banff and Buchan area committee will discuss the matter again tomorrow.
Local councillors will be asked to approve 15 names for new streets at the Merryhillock development.
One of the other street names suggested by Councillors Topping, Buchan and Michael Watt is Saltire Crescent.
Councillor Tait has compiled his own list with the backing of the town’s community council.
He said: “We have to remember that some people will not buy a house in a street if they object to a name and that hits the housebuilders.
“In choosing the names for Merryhillock, I wanted to avoid this squabbling which demeans Fraserburgh and so I have chosen names for famous people local to our area or who have made a contribution to the wellbeing of our town.
“If the streets are named according to my suggestions then people belonging to all political parties, or to none, could live in the streets without taking offence.”
Mr Tait has suggested that streets be named after anti-slavery campaigner John Ross, Scots fashion designer Bill Gibb, former Fraserburgh Academy rector John Ferguson and local poet George Bruce.
He has also put forward the names of Alexander Carrick, who designed the town’s war memorial, and Queen Elizabeth, to mark her reign as monarch.
Stephen Archer, the local authority’s director of infrastructure, has said that naming a street after a family would require the permission of the person’s living relatives.