Yr Aflonyddwch Mawr makes available latest Press Release of the "Save our Mural" Campaign and calls for maximum support for protest on 5th October at 12.00pm at John Frost Square, Newport .
Chartist Uprising Over Council’s Use Of Welsh Government Funding To Bulldoze 1,500sqft Newport Mural For London Developer’s £100m $hopping $cheme
Following the recent decision by Welsh Preservation group, Cadw, not to list Newport's Chartist Mural for preservation, the local council has now announced that it plans to knock down the artwork to make way for a £100m commercial shopping scheme using £1.5m of funding not from the scheme’s London developers, Queensberry Real Estate, but from the Welsh Government as part of a wider package of support approved by Economy Minister, Edwina Hart AM.
According to Councillor Bob Bright, leader of Newport City Council:
“The first phase will involve the demolition of shops in the John Frost Square
area [where the mural is located] … We are grateful to the minister and the
Welsh Government for providing this funding…”
However, in its listing refusal, Cadw acknowledges that the
1,500 sqft mosaic, commissioned in 1979 to commemorate the
Newport Rising, is: "a striking piece of art commemorating
events of historical significance to Newport." In this refusal decision,
Cadw also recognises, "the significance of the mural as a major piece of
public art providing an important connection to the city's heritage," and
goes on to confirm that the council's own consultants, Mann Williams
and Cliveden
Conservation, "established that relocation may be technically
feasible".
Local pressure group, 'Save Our Mural', are therefore planning a
re-enactment of the Chartists’ 1839 march on Newport, only this time not armed
with pikes and muskets but instead a 3,500-signature petition addressed to the
council’s new Chief Executive, Will Godfrey.
Describing the demonstration as an "insurrection day", Save
Our Mural's campaign chairman, Peter Rawcliffe, states: "Newport
Council's announcement of their plans to destroy our much-loved mural is in direct contradiction
with the personal pledge made ten weeks ago by their new CEO, Will Godfrey,
to myself and my fellow campaigners that he would do everything he could to
relocate the mural if it was technically feasible to do so."
“There are lots of questions Newport Council need to answer,"
Rawcliffe continues. "Why are they now saying it will cost £600,000 to
relocate our mural when previous estimates were placed at £200,000? And how can
they go to a single tender for what is potentially a £600k contract when EU Law and the government’s Best Value Unit prohibit this? Why hasn’t the
council invited a competitive tender from Oliver Budd [son of the mural's now deceased
creator], who took only one week with his partners to safely remove and store
Birmingham's huge JFK mural. We just feel so disenfranchised by
a council that, at best, suffers from a complete lack of imagination and, at
worst, has a complete disregard for the public over this issue."
The Save Our Mural campaign’s frustrations are borne out by Plaid Cymru
shadow Heritage Minister, Bethan
Jenkins AM, who was prompted on 19th September to write to the
council requesting that it, “listen to local people and campaigners who are
against the demolition of the Chartist Mural in Newport.” In her letter,
Jenkins goes on to observe: “Surely there can be a way to save this important
mural and push ahead with the new retail plans? After all, the Chartists play a
vital and important role in our heritage as Welsh people, and I believe that by
demolishing this mural, it will send a very negative message about their legacy
and importance to Newport and to Wales.”
Local mosaic artist and campaigner, Stephanie Roberts, adds:
"The Council's recent PR statement says that, as part of the £100m
commercial development plans, 'The demolition [of a car park] cannot take place
without putting the integrity of the chartist mural at risk,' and so rather
than at least try, their solution is to destroy the mural altogether - it's
complete madness. And why was the preservation of our mural never made a
proviso in the first place when granting planning permission to the developers,
Queenberry?"
Roberts concludes: "All we are asking is for the mural to be
incorporated into the design of the shopping centre or its environs. This would
signal a clear message to the public that the council and the London developers
are socially aware and respectful of the heritage of not just this Welsh city
but indeed the whole of Wales," an opinion that seems to be supported by
presenter Hugh Edwards who tweets: “The mural marks an event of truly national
importance."
Commenting on the council’s announcement of its plans to destroy the
mural, Mohammad Asghar AM (Regional Welsh Assembly
Member for South Wales East), said: “We need to find a swift solution to save
this mural for the enjoyment of future generations without delaying the long
overdue redevelopment of Newport city centre,” a position backed by the Welsh
Assembly Tory group that states the party’s Suzy Davies AM was disappointed with the
decisions by the council and Cadw which “demonstrate a lack of appreciation for
Welsh heritage.”
Prof Brian Goodey BA, MA, Dip CD, Dip LA, GMLI, FRGS, FRSA (Emeritus
Professor, Urban Landscape Design at Oxford Brookes University), writes of the
Newport Chartist Mural: "If suggestions as to its destruction are correct,
then in less than a generation a town, now a city, seems willing to dispose of
a public work of art which marks a key event in British history. Regardless of
attitudes towards its aesthetic qualities (and public art always receives a
rough time after the initial decision) possible destruction seems to reflect an
official willingness to discard this important public reminder of the human
qualities and conflict that made Newport what it is.”
In his own public statement, Oliver Budd observes: “Whilst I fully
understand Newport's need for modernisation and re-development to stimulate the
commercial centre of the city, it is sad that it necessitates the loss of this
landmark work. The great tragedy is that like other past artworks, buildings
and monuments that have been removed from our towns and cities, you look back
in years to come and wonder why more wasn't done to retain these unique
cultural aspects of our built environment, when all that is left are
photographs and memories.”
Yet Bethan Jenkins AM concludes her letter to the council’s CEO, Will
Godfrey, with a less fatalistic demand: “I urge you to reconsider your
decision.”
Note for Editors: The Chartist movement prompted one of the most
important political reforms in the UK that acknowledged levels of equality
previously denied to many. Created by Kenneth Budd, using more than 200,000 pieces
of broken tile and Venetian smalti, the Chartist Mural celebrates the lives of
those lost on that fateful day in Newport on 4th November 1839.
The mural offers a unique insight to the proud history of Newport, celebrating
the democracy won by its ancestors for the whole of Great Britain. The
demolition of this piece of highly accessible art in the name of development is
a denial to the historical facts that it so clearly portrays, and flies in the
face of public opinion.
Contacts:
Peter Rawcliffe, Campaign Chairman, 'Save our Mural'.
Mobile: 07827337191; Email: pjrawcliffe@hotmail.com, petition: https://bit.ly/SaveOurMural
web: https://facebook.com/SaveOurMural,
twitter: https://twitter.com/SaveOurMural,
Stephanie Roberts, Campaign Coordinator, 'Save our Mural'.
Mobile: 07773276778; Email: info@stephanierobertsart.com
Zennis, Communications Officer, 'Save our Mural'.
Mobile: 07972268221, Email: zen@thepatchworkproject.com
