Swansea Arena: Rooms named after councillors plan criticised

Swansea ArenaSwansea Council

Council leader Rob Stewart said the plan had been to recognise the "unique contribution" of three councillors

Plans to name rooms at an indoor arena after serving Labour councillors have been described as "vanity gone mad".

Three rooms at Swansea's multi-million pound venue were to be named after cabinet members, but complaints mean the move has now been paused.

Council leader Rob Stewart said the idea had been to recognise their "unique contribution".

But people had been "astonished" by the plan, according to Lyndon Jones, leader of Swansea Conservatives.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it was a "step too far" despite the councillors being "decent people".

Two of the councillors caught up in the row said they had been unaware of the nominations for room names at the 3,500-seat Swansea Arena. They are Robert Francis-Davies, David Hopkins and Andrea Lewis.

'Honoured'

Mr Stewart said Mr Francis-Davies had served for more than 35 years and played a big role in regeneration projects.

Ms Lewis, joint deputy council leader and cabinet member for climate change and service transformation, said the nomination had been a surprise.

"I felt really honoured to have that accolade," she said. "It was really touching."

Mr Hopkins, joint deputy leader and cabinet member for delivery and operations, said he had been "quite humbled by it all".

Mr Francis-Davies also said he did not know anything about the room naming beforehand, adding: "I felt quite humbled by it, to be honest."

The Labour administration has driven forward the new arena project, which is part of the wider £135m Copr Bay scheme.

'Inappropriate and wrong'

The arena, which is expected to cost just under £50m, will host comedian John Bishop next week.

Mr Jones said: "The rooms should surely have been named after famous sons and daughters from Swansea, like the people who have received the freedom of the city of Swansea, or people from the world of entertainment like Sir Harry Secombe or Bonnie Tyler.

"It's vanity gone mad."

Chris Holley, the leader of the Liberal Democrat-Independent opposition group, said he had nothing against the councillors but objected to naming something after a serving politician.

"It's just vain, inappropriate and wrong," he said.

A new street within the development has commemorated champion Swansea sprinter Cyril Cupid, who was the son of a Welsh woman and West Indian zinc worker.

The council hopes to name the new coastal park by the arena after Swansea writer, businesswoman and benefactor Amy Dillwyn.

A Swansea council spokesman said: "There have been proposals for naming a number of facilities and rooms in council buildings, but these are on hold pending further discussion with all political groups."

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