Tuesday, 26 November 2013

Bob Bright of Newport Council says sorry at last over destruction of Chartist Mural




Yr Aflonyddwch Mawr salutes the Save the Mural Campaign in Newport for its persistence in pursuing Bob Bright for an apology - it has taken over a month of vigorous campaigning by the people of Newport to get the apology but it was a necessary step to bring the council to democratic accountability for its wrongful action.
The lesson to be learned is not to give up and fight back, Newport Council avoided meetings to discuss the Mural destruction, and even did not officially receive the petition to save the Chartist Mural, it did its best to ignore the protests, but in the end they had to publically acknowledge their mistake and treat the protests and protestors with respect that they have earned by apologising to the people of Newport.
Report in South Wales Argus
"THE leader of Newport council led the authority in apologising for how the Chartist Mural was demolished saying sorry for any hurt it caused.
Almost all members present for tonight’s meeting, including the Tories, backed the apology tabled by Labour’s Bob Bright, which came more than a month after the artwork was demolished.
Councillors were greeted by protestors from the Save Our Chartist Mural campaign as they entered the chamber.
The full city council meeting was originally called by Tory opposition councillors to discuss a motion calling for an apology over how the demolition was handled.
But Labour’s amendment to the motion tabled by leader Bob Bright went further, expressing the council’s “sincere regret to residents of the city of Newport regarding the handling" of the Mural's removal.
The amendment said the matter should have been handled more sensitively and that the authority was “sorry for any hurt this caused”.
Councillors backed the amendment with a show of hands, with only Cllr Noel Trigg voting against and no abstentions. The original motion was also passed

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