London’s new City Hall road renamed Kamal Chunchie Way

• Shilpa Sharma
• 09 July, 2021

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By: Shilpa Sharma

TO pay tribute to Kamal Chunchie, the race relations campaigner, road leading to the new home of the Greater London Authority (GLA) has been renamed as Kamal Chunchie Way.

Chunchie, a pastor from Sri Lanka, founded the Coloured Men’s Institute in the Royal Docks in 1926 for sailors, dock workers, and local residents.

The new name of the road in east London was chosen by the public through vote. Currently, it is called Siemens Brothers Way.

The site will become the GLA’s home at the end of 2021.

Last year, mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced his plan to move City Hall to the Crystal building in Newham.

The move is expected to save more than £60 million over the next five years, a spokesman for the mayor of London said.

City Hall, has been the official home of the GLA since it was opened by the Queen in 2002 and occupies a prominent position on the south bank of the Thames.

Chunchie was born into a prominent Muslim family in Sri Lanka in 1886 and was trained as a Methodist minister in the UK.

His experiences of discrimination in London’s dock districts, taught him of the difficult life for the black and Asian population in places like Canning Town.

He fought for the rights of minorities in the UK, and continued his work until 1953. Chunchie died in June 1953 virtually penniless.