Councillors reject proposed name for underpass

PLANS to name a railway underpass have been given the thumbs down by councillors.

Hertfordshire Highways are proposing to name the underpass, which opened earlier this year and links Burns Road and Green Street, Coombes Lane.

But members of Royston Town Council’s planning committee want to it to be known by its commonly-used name, Coombes Hole, instead.

Speaking at the committee’s meeting on Monday, Cllr F John Smith said: “I’m a little bit surprised that this has come up in this way.

“Ever since I was a boy everyone has known what this lane was called, and everybody knows it as Coombes Hole.”

Cllr Smith added that calling it Coombes Lane could cause people to become mixed up with another nearby street, Coombelands.

Town clerk Susan Thornton Bjork told the committee that the lane required an official name for reference purposes when repairs to street lights and utilities are required.

Cllr Lyn Berry said: “The feeling is that the name [Coombes Hole] it is known by historically should be nominated to lessen the confusion.”