"The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 14th September, 1998, it had approved an application for the naming of a new street in the City at Beechmount Link.
The Head of Building Control informed the Committee that he had received a letter from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive requesting, on behalf of the majority of new tenants scheduled to move into the above-mentioned street during July, that the street name be changed from Beechmount Link to Cluain Mor Gardens. He pointed out that the Royal Mail had no objection to the proposal to rename the street. He advised the Committee that the Council currently had no policy on the renaming of streets. However, the Director of Legal Services, in commenting on a previous application to rename a street, had expressed the opinion that the lack of a policy did not in itself act as a bar on the Council considering a request for the renaming of a street.
The Head of Building Control informed the Committee that the power to name streets was contained in Article 11 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order 1995. The legislation made no specific reference to renaming of streets. However, at its implementation, the Council had sought clarification on the matter and had been informed by the Department of the Environment that since Councils had the sole authority to name streets there was an implied authority to rename streets. He pointed out that the Council had agreed previously to the renaming of streets or parts thereof as a result of redevelopment, road realignment or where the majority of property holders in a street had requested a change.
In reply to a Member's question, the Head of Building Control stated that the original application had been submitted by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. A Member pointed out that since the street was located in an area of redevelopment the Executive should have consulted with the residents before submitting the original application. Another Member stated that the street was located in a redeveloped area which was known as Cluain Mor Estate. He pointed out that there were several streets already located in the area with the prefix Cluain Mor which had previously been approved by the Committee. After further discussion in the matter, the Committee approved the request to rename Beechmount Link as Cluain Mor Gardens". (Health and Environmental Services Committee Monday, 10th May, 1999).