On Wednesday evening the Vale of White Horse District Council will vote on whether to change the name of Abingdon to Abingdon-On-Thames.
The motion will be decided during the same meeting that the council decides the budget for next year – so it could be a long evening.
The council say “there is no requirement for any public consultation” but they did issue a press release inviting the public to submit any views.
As a result they have 6 people responding in favour, including Nicola Blackwood MP who favours the “opportunity for Abingdon, to brand itself“.
There were 7 against.
Abingdon needs rebranding all together. Change the name, renovate the town and watch the growth. It’s disgusting the way the Abingdon has been left out. We live in one of the most oldest and hitstorical towns in the united kingdom and its so upsetting seeing th presinct/ bury street left to 2012 to be renovated . Shame on the vwhdc .
What was the beef with the seven?
Sorry, first time poster but 18 month reader & nearby resident (nearly posted as Cliff Hampton so you’ll have more than a clue as to where I live).
Anyway … it has been so strange to see a town dying slowly – despite the best and enthusiastic efforts of some – when it has one of the country’s most glittering prizes (sic etc; yes I know) flowing alongside.
I do hope that the renaming goes through and that, with the help of the Old Gaol restaurants, Abingdon-On-Thames stops turning its back on its heritage.
Does that mean you will be submitting a motion to Clifton Hampden parish council to change the name to Clifton Hampden-on-Thames?
Many long term residents always considered it Abingdon on Thames. The fact is there is some change afoot in the town. I fully support the name change and upgrade to the precinct and the Old Gaol. There will always be the naysayers and its easy to point out some of the downsides of redevelopment e.g. views from East St Helens, but let’s also see the upsides; we wouldn’t get the investment without some compromises, particularly in this economic climate. In some ways, we’re lucky we got the investments in the Museum, BurySt and Gaol before corproate funding dried up.
This town has a fabulous history, lots of brilliant clubs and interest groups and a good base of independent shops. I hope the changes to the Gaol and Bury St will bring more shoppers to support our smaller shops. I sense a fundamental change for the better so I for one will look for the positives.
Can I refer you to an excellent post by a blog friend of mine about ‘branding’ and the gobbledegook that comes out of it.
I don’t mind either way about the name change, but hope they don’t waste money on a re-branding exercise, when they should just be getting on with the renovations!
As someone who, until recently, lived a long way from Abingdon, I was never aware that it was situated on the Thames (or any river for that matter). I think that the addition/reintroduction of the ‘on-Thames’ in the name will add to its attraction as a place to visit. Certainly, I was sufficiently intrigued by other Thames-side places to make an effort to visit them.
The river is the great attraction here and the new name should reflect that asset.
Changing the name to Abingdon on Thames is a step forward or confirming what many people already call it. I can remember buying a gift for my mother with Abingdon on Thames on it. That was 25 years ago and my mother thought that I lived somewhere nice! The town has suffered from then on, not least because traffic flows in and out of the town are dreadful, even then the new road system didn’t help. To move the town forward the road infrstructure must be addressed, pointless doing anything else otherwise. Let’s start with the lodge hill diamond interchange(something our new MP was all for before she got elected) and address properly the town’s traffic problems. Abingdon on Thames sounds good but we have to deliver on the premise.
We love the Thames and it is the highlight of the town. We have even just got ourselves a boat to really take advantage of Abingdon-on-Thames!!!
.BBC OXFORD shows Abingdon’s Thames waterfront….
.A34 Signs virtually ignore the place; perhaps ..on-Thames might be an improvement there,along with a brown sign to the town rather than millett’s. Sorry, I’ve said this only too often…!
Abingdon on Thames, not Abingdon On Thames
What was the result??,
It went through. 22 for. 26 abstained. and 4 against.
26 Abstained????
Often there is confusion from ‘outsiders’ with the town Abington, so this would appear to be a good move to prevent further confusion.
Sorry smith d. I got that wrong, and have corrected the figures. 19 abstained.
Thank you for that. This is good news (for some of us at least). People who understand the workings of a local Council will have to forgive my ignorance but… I must ask this question. ‘Why have so many of the members abstained’? I can appreciate that it is the perogative of any member of a committee to abstain if they wish. But surely this body is elected to make decisions? Wonder what would have happened if they had all abstained??
I was not there to see the vote and hear councillors’ reasons but at the town council there were a few councillors abstained on the same issue. This was because they would have been in favour if the the rename had been more thoroughly investigated. There was no officer report at town council exploring the issue and its implications, nor was there much more at the Vale. So that could be one reason. But will try to find out.
Since I’ve lived in Luton I’ve always said that I’m from either Abingdon, or Abingdon on Thames, using the names interchangeably.
Hopefully Abingdon (on Thames) will prosper in the future.
Looking forward to my next visit home (whatever the name) for the Royal Bun Throwing Championships 🙂
Surely given that everyone keeps going on about how shory of money councils are, we missed out a chance for a sponsorship deal here?
“The AXA Abingdon” makes us sound decidedly premiership, and would have brought some nifty revenue.
Shory = short
shorry for the confusion.
Hello all,
can somebody tell me if it is worth settling down in abingdon? I will start working in Culham at the beginning aof 2013 so we are thinking about renting a house in abingdon because it is near culham, where the european school is.