Council to defend decision against ‘distracting’ application for statue
BRISTOL City Council is set to defend itself against accusations it “unlawfully” ignored a bid to install a sculpture of a Black Lives Matter protester on the Colston Statue plinth.
A government inspector will rule whether the life-sized depiction of Jen Reid can stand for two years on the base where slave trader Edward Colston’s monument was torn down last summer, after an appeal was lodged on the grounds of “non-determination”.
The council is due to explain at an appeal hearing next month why it chose not to determine a planning application for the temporary installation of the piece, called A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020, in the time required.
The hearing has been scheduled for July 8 after it was pushed back three weeks by a delay in the council uploading the appeal documents to its website.
London-based planning consultants Interpolitan Ltd applied for the temporary art installation in July last year, on the same day the council removed the black resin sculpture from the Colston plinth.
In its submission to the appeal hearing, the council argues Bristol should decide the future of the plinth with the help of the newly established We Are Bristol History Commission, and that the application would be a “distraction”.
Alongside technical planning arguments, its statement of case reads: “There is a need for there to be a consensus from within the city as to ... what, if anything, goes onto the empty plinth.
“The mayor [Marvin Rees] confirmed that any decision ... would be decided democratically through consultation facilitated by the History Commission.
“The decision was made not to progress the submitted applications because this would also have been a distraction from the engagement work that is being undertaken related to the display of the Colston statue.”
The council adds that the application was made with “very little” consultation, appeared “opportunistic”, and its claims of public benefit were “misguided” given the Jen Reid statue “heightened tensions” in the city when it first appeared.
Interpolitan Ltd, which lodged the appeal in March, said the sculpture would do no harm and would in fact bring benefits such as “fostering the inclusion of underrepresented communities”.
A heritage statement supporting its submission says: “The installation ... would serve as an invitation and a bold declaration that inclusion stands proud in the heart of Bristol.” Interpolitan argued its planning application was valid and the council failed in its legal duty by refusing to decide it.
Historic England has called the appellant’s case flawed, arguing Interpolitan has not considered the “harm that would flow from the removal of Colston’s statue”.