Town's talking head will stand outside the Drabbet Smock
Friday, 30th August 2013.
A fantastic piece of public art devised by local academy students has been lauded by councillors apart from one point - they think it is being put in the wrong place.
The giant head, with TV monitors for eyes, which will broadcast positive material about Haverhill, is being developed at a cost of £10,000, under the auspices of Public Art in the Town Centre of Haverhill, or PATCH, a sub-committee of St Edmundsbury Borough Council's Haverhill Area Working Party.
It is nearly ready to be put in place on a planter at the top of the market square outside the Drabbet Smock.
The chairman of PATCH, Cllr Marion Rushbrook, reported to the working party on the latest progress, but when the siting was criticised by town clerk Will Austin, said the location had already been voted for by both PATCH and the working party.
It was unclear who from the working party had voted for it as all the councillors present except the chairman and Cllr Rushbrook agreed it was the wrong place.
Mr Austin had pleaded for a re-think, saying it was a wonderful piece of sculpture a fantastic scheme and an unbelievable asset to the town but should be in the high street.
"There is a planter in the high street which has a dead tree in it," he said. "You could easily put it there. It insults the creators of it to put it outside the Drabbet where it won't be seen."
Cllr Maureen Byrne it was a wonderful piece of work but the location was too far removed from the footfall of the community.
Cllr Tim Marks called it a delightful work of art and said it was 'absolutely monstrous' that it was being put in the wrong place.
Cllr Paul McManus said he had to agree it was in the wrong place and was concerned how it would be protected, because the town's free runners would climb all over it.
Its durability in the face of being stood on is still being assessed, but Cllr Rushbrook defended the location robustly saying a lot of young people congregated in that area and would see it.
The giant head, with TV monitors for eyes, which will broadcast positive material about Haverhill, is being developed at a cost of £10,000, under the auspices of Public Art in the Town Centre of Haverhill, or PATCH, a sub-committee of St Edmundsbury Borough Council's Haverhill Area Working Party.
It is nearly ready to be put in place on a planter at the top of the market square outside the Drabbet Smock.
The chairman of PATCH, Cllr Marion Rushbrook, reported to the working party on the latest progress, but when the siting was criticised by town clerk Will Austin, said the location had already been voted for by both PATCH and the working party.
It was unclear who from the working party had voted for it as all the councillors present except the chairman and Cllr Rushbrook agreed it was the wrong place.
Mr Austin had pleaded for a re-think, saying it was a wonderful piece of sculpture a fantastic scheme and an unbelievable asset to the town but should be in the high street.
"There is a planter in the high street which has a dead tree in it," he said. "You could easily put it there. It insults the creators of it to put it outside the Drabbet where it won't be seen."
Cllr Maureen Byrne it was a wonderful piece of work but the location was too far removed from the footfall of the community.
Cllr Tim Marks called it a delightful work of art and said it was 'absolutely monstrous' that it was being put in the wrong place.
Cllr Paul McManus said he had to agree it was in the wrong place and was concerned how it would be protected, because the town's free runners would climb all over it.
Its durability in the face of being stood on is still being assessed, but Cllr Rushbrook defended the location robustly saying a lot of young people congregated in that area and would see it.
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