[WATCH] New street name rules presented, but councils show scant interest

Naming a street has just become easier for local councils, with a new set of guidelines presented to help them in the process.

The guidelines, drafted by the Street Naming Committee, state that new street names must be easy to write and read, that they cannot be longer than 40 characters, and that they cannot be named after a personality who is still alive.

Street names cannot be changed except in exceptional circumstances, such as when a road forks into separate streets that have the same name. Streets whose names reflect the topography or history of the village or town cannot be changed either.

Local councils will be a maximum of two months to install new street signs, ideally at both ends of the street. Streets that pass through more than one town must include signs that indicate exactly where one town stops and another one starts.

The Committee is chaired by author Charles Flores and is responsible for processing local councils’ requests for street names before sending them to the Prime Minister for final approval.

The new guidelines mean that they are now also responsible for naming arterial roads, national monuments, national parks or gardens, and industrial estates after consultation with the local councils effected.

The committee has also embarked on an extensive process to ensure that every house is numbered appropriately, providing tenants with stickers as a temporary measure.

Parliamentary secretary for local councils Stefan Buontempo urged residents not to remove the stickers from their doors, warning that a lack of signage confuses ambulances, police, and delivery people.

Buontempo called the press to a meeting at the Naxxar Counting Hall during which the guidelines were supposed to be presented and explained to the south-eastern local councils.

However, out of the 14 councils invited, only three of them – Marsaxlokk, Bormla and Mqabba – sent a representative.

Their apathy earned them the condemnation of Flores and Buontempo, who warned that they were failing in their civic duties.

“Street names shed light on the history of our towns and villages, and I was expecting far more local councils to attend this important conference,” Buontempo said.

Meanwhile Flores criticised certain local councils, which he didn’t name, for dragging their feet on installing street signs.

“Often, the Committee does its work quickly but the council takes long to respond, sometimes even waiting nine months before installing a simple street sign,” he said. “At the end of the day, this negatively impacts the council’s residents.”