Rename "Lancaster City Council" to remove structural inequality and class bias. All it needs is for a Council meeting (following section 74 of 1972 Local Government Act) where 2/3rds agree with the change. Please sign the petition to help create the change....

50 years ago Morecambe and Heysham Councils were put under the control of "Lancaster City Council". Changing requirements for councils meant that individually these council areas are not large enough to be their own councils so were required to merge. However, despite being 2 thirds of the population these 2 areas are not in the name of the council. This has led to preference being given to Lancaster projects over Morecambe and Heysham. And it has led to the demoralising (and generally accepted) view that Lancaster preferences itself over these areas. Organisations bearing the name Lancaster (e.g. Lancaster University etc) then feel they can represent those other areas. These is a colonialist and structural inequality that is an oppression of a perceived lower class - intellectually and economically. It is a victim blaming that leads to a patronising attitude to these other towns. It is in attitude that is an excuse for not allowing people to manage their own futures.

Following Lancaster's history as the 4th largest slave trading port in the UK and the negative attitude many in Lancaster have towards Morecambe this petition is to support the simple act of changing the name of "Lancaster City Council" to include "Morecambe" and "Heysham" e.g. "Heysham, Morecambe & Lancaster Council" or to become an acronym e.g. "HLM" or a neutral term like "North West Lancashire Council" or at minimum "Lancaster District".

Any trio with 3 people would not preference one person over the others - hence "The 3 tenors" (Luciano Pavarotti and Spaniards Plácido Domingo and José Carreras) did not preference one over the other.

Any suggestion that Lancaster's special status as a city means that its should be the name that covers Morecambe and Heysham reinforces the sense of structural inequality and prejudice against the towns of Morecambe and Heysham. If "Lancaster City" remains in the name then "Morecambe Town" and "Heysham Town" should also be included.

The inequality is so great that only after researching this petition did I discover that the district comprises two parliamentary constituencies: Lancaster and Fleetwood, and Morecambe and Lunesdale. Hence it might be that Fleetwood and Carnforth might need to be in the name also. Or a general name for the area that is not biased towards any one town/city.

Ask your Councillor in the coming elections that they will push to make this change. It is an easy action. Don't allow excuses that it will cost too much to rebrand - it is a fraction of the amount that is being mis-directed and will create a re-distribution of funds. It is also an issue of personal value. Morecambe, Heysham, Carnforth and Fleetwood are being seen as second class citizens.

After contacting the "Local Government Boundary Commission for England" I discovered that for a council / authority to change its name, it needs to follow section 74 of 1972 Local Government Act.  This is a process led by the Council itself. 

All it needs is for a meeting where 2/3rds agree with the change.

74 Change of name of county, district or London borough

(1) Subject to subsection (5) below, the council of a county, district or London borough may, by a resolution passed by not less than two-thirds of the members voting thereon at a meeting of the council specially convened for the purpose with notice of the object, change the name of the county, district or borough.

(2) Where the name of a district which has been granted the status of a city, borough or royal borough or the name of a London borough is changed in pursuance of this section, the charter or other grant or incorporation order shall have effect as if the new name were substituted for the old.

(3) Notice of any change of name made under this section -

(a) shall be sent by the council concerned to the Secretary of State, to the Director General of the Ordnance Survey and to the Registrar General; and
(b) shall be published in such manner as the Secretary of State may direct.

(4) A change of name made in pursuance of this section shall not affect any rights or obligations of any county, district or London borough or of any council, authority or person, or render defective any legal proceedings; and any legal proceedings may be commenced or continued as if there had been no change of name.
(5) The name of a county or district shall not be changed under this section before 1st April 1978 unless the change is made with the consent of the Secretary of State

http://www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/acts/1972-local-government-act.html