Entry tags:
Here comes the Equestrian Statue...
Further to that theme of democratic deficit, the plan to remodel Durham's Market Place grinds on. It is powered by something called 2020 Vision - their web site is down, but here is how One North East describes them.
If you click that link, you'll see that the image One North East have chosen to represent Durham is the statue of Lord Londonderry outside Saint Nick's in the Market Place; but a major part of 2020 Vision's plan is to move him, enlarging the open space which would then be available for events like the occasional continental market. The City of Durham Trust suggested that instead of our struggling to envisage how this might look, 2020 Vision might drive a lorry into the position they envisaged - and on Sunday, that's what they did.
In fact, they went one better. Someone clearly had altogether too much fun creating a mockup of the statue, and disguising the truck it sat on with cardboard to give a rough impression of the plinth. Give that someone a gold star for effort and ingenuity!
But if anything, the exercise persuaded me that moving the statue isn't a good idea; it was overshadowed by the mass of buildings, and looked crowded up against them, while in its present position it dominates the space and balances the church and Town Hall between which it stands. I also had not realised until I saw the mock-up that in the new dispensation the statue would become a traffic island (only for those parts of the day during which traffic is permitted in the Market Place, but an island nonetheless, surrounded by road surface rather than the new paved flooring of the square - another feature I'm not enthusiastic about).
People in the Market Place on Sunday - not necessarily a random sample - seemed overwhelmingly opposed to moving the statue: Lord Londonderry has never been so popular. Charles William Vane-Stewart was a colliery owner, his statue a reminder of the days when Durham men mined coal for the profit of the mine-owners. The story goes that at one time the council vigorously opposed a proposal to clean the statue. One traditional Labour councillor was asked "What have you got against that poor horse?" "I've nothing against the horse, it's that bugger on his back I can't stand!"
Well, we shall see. This was a demonstration, not a consultation, and the plan goes ahead. Presumably it will require whatever sort of planning permission you need to tinker with a listed building - though this will be under the new dispensation, which I think means that there is no certainty that elected councillors from the City will be involved.
Meanwhile, to cheer us up, here comes the Equestrian statue!
If you click that link, you'll see that the image One North East have chosen to represent Durham is the statue of Lord Londonderry outside Saint Nick's in the Market Place; but a major part of 2020 Vision's plan is to move him, enlarging the open space which would then be available for events like the occasional continental market. The City of Durham Trust suggested that instead of our struggling to envisage how this might look, 2020 Vision might drive a lorry into the position they envisaged - and on Sunday, that's what they did.In fact, they went one better. Someone clearly had altogether too much fun creating a mockup of the statue, and disguising the truck it sat on with cardboard to give a rough impression of the plinth. Give that someone a gold star for effort and ingenuity!
But if anything, the exercise persuaded me that moving the statue isn't a good idea; it was overshadowed by the mass of buildings, and looked crowded up against them, while in its present position it dominates the space and balances the church and Town Hall between which it stands. I also had not realised until I saw the mock-up that in the new dispensation the statue would become a traffic island (only for those parts of the day during which traffic is permitted in the Market Place, but an island nonetheless, surrounded by road surface rather than the new paved flooring of the square - another feature I'm not enthusiastic about).
People in the Market Place on Sunday - not necessarily a random sample - seemed overwhelmingly opposed to moving the statue: Lord Londonderry has never been so popular. Charles William Vane-Stewart was a colliery owner, his statue a reminder of the days when Durham men mined coal for the profit of the mine-owners. The story goes that at one time the council vigorously opposed a proposal to clean the statue. One traditional Labour councillor was asked "What have you got against that poor horse?" "I've nothing against the horse, it's that bugger on his back I can't stand!"
Well, we shall see. This was a demonstration, not a consultation, and the plan goes ahead. Presumably it will require whatever sort of planning permission you need to tinker with a listed building - though this will be under the new dispensation, which I think means that there is no certainty that elected councillors from the City will be involved.
Meanwhile, to cheer us up, here comes the Equestrian statue!