FRED SLATER was a pal of mine. I'd known him for over 30 years and he always seemed to have a smile on his face.
But he was a modest man and I'm not sure that he would have been too keen to have a chunk of the scheduled redevelopment of the Vernon-Carus site in Hoddlesden named after him.
Apparently, developers McInerney Homes have come up with the idea.
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Fair enough; Fred worked hard for the village which he knew well, pressing especially for sheltered housing there.
But I'm not at all happy about the trend of naming streets and developments after local councillors.
I knew Tom Hardman well, but I never understood why they named the bottom end of Sudell Road in his honour.
Nor, for that matter, the naming of Darwen's M65 services link the Mary Leaver Way. Mary worked hard for the Earcroft Ward but she lived in Blackburn.
McInerney Homes have got it spot on with their excellent Belgrave Heights development which marks the lives of Darwen heroes, especially its sporting stars of yesteryear.
England soccer captain Sam Wadsworth, former weaver Dick Burton who won the Open golf championship, strongman Bill Hunt and Classic-winning jockey Albert Whalley among them.
They will be remembered largely thanks to lobbying from Councillor Dave Smith.
And now he is asking regeneration bosses at the council to press for other prominent Darweners to be remembered in the proposed development of the former health centre site in Union Street - James H Morton and Sir David Shackleton.
Artist Morton was achieving international fame before his death in the last few days of the Great War.
He was born on Tockholes Road and lived in Sudell Road.
Some of his paintings are displayed - very poorly as I complained a few weeks ago - in Darwen Library.
Sir David became the third Labour MP behind Keir Hardie and Richard Bell when he was elected for Clitheroe in 1902 and he became a senior civil servant.
In Darwen he lived in Victoria Street, London Terrace and Belgrave Road and is buried in Darwen Cemetery.
Now, many years on, they have no friends, colleagues or family to lobby on their behalf and it is to Coun Smith's credit that he is doing the honours.
Meanwhile, the six-acre Vernon-Carus developer is promising "a portion of affordable housing" on the site and planners are nodding supportively.
"But how vague can you get? What, exactly, does "affordable housing" mean. Not to mention "a portion".
Everyone knows more money is to be made from the high-end market - and the building industry is having a hard time of it at the moment.
Of course the phrase can mean just about anything anyone wants it to mean.
Affordable homes for local folk? Affordable for households of low or modest income; something around the £85,000 mark, perhaps? We'll see.
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