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Residents hit out at cash-strapped council’s plans to spend greater than £80,000 erecting sculptures outdoors their very own headquarters

A council’s plan to splash over £80,000 on erecting sculptures outside their own headquarters has been blasted by local residents.

The artwork in the town of Newark, Nottinghamshire, has been slated as a massive waste of money with locals claiming the funds could be better spent elsewhere. 

Known as the Kiddey Stones, the installations are four large sandstone panels which have been in storage since 1980 when they were given to Newark and Sherwood Council.

Plans to erect the stones outside the council offices went to public consultation following their approval by the council cabinet in June. 

Aggrieved locals were against it – 57 per cent of those who commented on the scheme voiced their opposition.

One replied: ‘In these times of shortage of funds I think it is a waste of public money’. 

Another wrote: ‘Think it’s highly disrespectful to all residents to think about such vanity projects after raising council tax in the current economy’.

And one furious resident questioned why the council even sought consultation from locals, and after branding the plans as morally wrong, went on to state: ‘There are people in this area relying on food banks and you want to wazz money up the wall on this’.

The Kiddey Stones, made of four large sandstone panels, were originally installed at Wilford Power Station in Nottingham but have been in storage since the 1980s when they were given to Newark and Sherwood District Council

The Kiddey Stones, made of four large sandstone panels, were originally installed at Wilford Power Station in Nottingham but have been in storage since the 1980s when they were given to Newark and Sherwood District Council

An artistic impression of how the stones would look outside the Newark and Sherwood Council buildings

An artistic impression of how the stones would look outside the Newark and Sherwood Council buildings

The stone sculptures, which stand at two metres tall and a metre wide, were designed by local artist Robert Kiddey with each depicting a different aspect of electricity production.

Despite an estimated cost of £81,240, Rowan Cozens, portfolio holder for heritage, the culture and the arts revealed she was ‘not disappointed’ by the local opposition.. 

‘These incredible sculptures were given to the people of Newark and have languished for nearly 40 years,’ she said.

‘While 13 different sites for them have been explored in the past, they are still not available for the public to view, which I feel is a travesty and something we must reconsider’, she said.

Some councillors spoke out, including Conservative Keith Girling who said: ‘It surprised me then when Newark and Sherwood District Council, rather than get more involved with this, are going to spend almost £100,000 moving the Kiddey Stones to the front of their council building, which isn’t even a tourist route.

‘I’m all for having statues, but there’s a time and a place. We’re in a cost of living crisis – that’s where our focus should be. I hope they rethink what they will do with the stones.’

 Council leader Ben Bradley echoed this concern and cited the opportunity cost of erecting the artwork, arguing that they should be focusing on alleviating financial pressures instead. 

Newark and Sherwood Council (pictured) put their plans to spend £80,000 erecting sculptures out to public consultation

Newark and Sherwood Council (pictured) put their plans to spend £80,000 erecting sculptures out to public consultation

In March of this year the Newark and Sherwood Council, which is under no majority control, announced to residents that their portion of Council tax would be rising by 2.99 per cent year-on-year.

At the time, Council leader Paul Peacock told locals that he didn’t want to increase tax rates but was left with no choice due to the rising costs of providing services.

‘It costs more to collect bins, more to manage and pay a number of benefits to our residents, more to maintain our award-winning parks, more to run a planning service, more to support all our local businesses and residents across the whole district in everything we do’, Councillor Peacock said.

He went on to add that it would be irresponsible to not properly plan for the future by increasing Council tax: ‘There has never been more demand on our services, we will have more bin collection rounds than ever before and we are administering more grants than ever before, but we remain committed to ensuring we can deliver our services, helping those who need us the most’.

The results from the public survey will now be presented to cabinet for consideration on 10 December. 

Newark and Sherwood Council were contacted by the MailOnline for comment over local reaction to the plans, but were unable to provide comment at the time.