DEVELOPERS and councillors are clashing over street names for a major housing scheme in Didcot – with one “ridiculous” suggestion likened to a military plane crash.

Taylor Wimpey Homes suggested naming the main road through the Great Western Park development Great Western Way.

But Didcot Town Council said it was too similar to the town’s Great Western Drive and could confuse emergency services. It should be named after birds and trees instead, it said.

South Oxfordshire District Council then attempted to settle the issue by offering its own suggestion, Eagle Down.

But the town council said this reminded members of the film Black Hawk Down, about the battle resulting from a US military helicopter crash in Mogadishu in Somalia in 1993.

It is now demanding veto powers from the district council over street names at the development, off the A4130 to the west of the town.

Ex-RAF man and town councillor Roger Hawlor burst out laughing when Eagle Down was suggested.

He said: “I immediately thought the name Eagle Down had unfortunate connotations of a military plane crashing and I wouldn’t want people to be thinking about that when they visit the development.”

Town councillor Margaret Davies said: “We don’t want the main road through Great Western Park to have possible connotations of a military plane crash and would like something much more upbeat.

“The town council would like the first phase of Great Western Park to be named after British birds and trees.”

District council spokesman Vic Buckett-Hipgrave said it would consider developer and town council views before an officer made a final decision.

Councillors on the general licensing committee could be asked to decide “as a last resort”, she said.

Taylor Wimpey spokesman Rebecca Salter said: “We submitted an application to South Oxfordshire District Council to name the main road running through Great Western Park ‘Great Western Way’.... Due to a road in the area having a similar name this application was refused.

“We plan to submit another street name to the council which reflects the heritage of Didcot.”

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