A SPECIAL public meeting will be held next month over controversial plans to change the name of Hyndburn to Accrington and District.
The idea, put forward by the council’s Tory leader Peter Britcliffe, has sharply polarised opinion.
The meeting will be held at Scaitcliffe House, Accrington, on Thursday 8 November at 7pm.
The chairmen of all the area councils will be there to offer feedback on public reaction from their districts.
An extraordinary council meeting will then be held on Tuesday 20 November at 7pm when a final decision on how to proceed will be made.
At most area council meeting, the audience was asked to give a show of hands to indicate if they are for or against the proposal.
Public reaction to the name change has been mixed, with some residents in the surrounding districts unhappy at the thought of being associated with Accrington.
The Conservatives believe the switch would give the borough a clearer identity.
Council leader Peter Brit-cliffe said it is currently shrouded in a veil of anonymity.
He believes that a new name will help put the town and its surrounding districts on the map.
He said: "Wherever anybody goes, if they say they are from Hyndburn nobody has a clue where it is."
Under the plan each township would be given an individual coats of arms and boundary sign.
And it has been promised that the name change would be achieved at a minimal cost and would not add a single penny to council tax.
Items like road signs and vehicle logos would be replaced gradually as they went out of service.
The name Hyndburn has been in existence since 1974 when Accrington merged with Rishton, Great Harwood, Church, Clayton-le-Moors and Oswaldtwistle under a big local government shake-up.
