However he said they would ‘absolutely not’ be throwing away any of the street name signs, but would consider putting up education boards to inform people, or moving them into museums.
He also said names of streets would not be changed unless people who lived there wanted them to be.
It comes after the statue of 18th slave trader and Tory MP Edward Colston was dragged into Bristol harbour.
The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis has sparked Black Lives Matter protests across the world, incuding in Nottingham, and started a national debate about whether statues and street names with links to the slave trade should be altered or removed altogether.
Now, council leader John Clarke, who represents the Netherfield ward for Labour, has said a decision was taken yesterday (Wednesday, June 10) to start a review into all street names in the borough.
He said: “We are looking at our own history and our own conscience, so we will have a look through.
“I don’t think there are many, if any, in the borough that are controversial but we will have a look.”
Asked what the council would do if, during the review, it was found that some street names did have links to the slave trade, councillor Clarke said: “I think we would try to educate people.
“You can’t let this go, this has got to remind people of what happened and educate people.
“The brutality has to be highlighted. You could put up information boards, or in consultation with people change the name of the street, but some people might object to that and you’ve got to listen to everybody because it’s their street.
“You’ve got to put a debate forward , but (if the street name was changed) we shouldn’t put these street name boards in a skip or melt them down, these should be used in museums and used for anti-racism education.”
A spokesman for Gedling Borough Council said: ““We are reviewing our statues, street names and other public signage to make sure they meet the expectations of our multicultural society.
“We take great pride in our stance on equality and diversity in the borough and we stand shoulder to shoulder with the Black Lives Matter movement.
“Gedling has a strong history of promoting cultural inclusivity, our communities are built on a league of nations and we will continue to work with our residents to promote their causes.”
