Row over future of Picton Monument
A MONUMENT to Thomas Picton that has stood for more than 130 years will not be removed imminently, despite a vote by Cardiff council to take down a statue which celebrated the same man.
Picton Monument, located on Picton Terrace just outside Carmarthen town centre, has stood in its place since 1888.
It commemorates Sir Thomas Picton, who died at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. But Picton has long been criticised for his ownership of slaves and his torture of a 14-year-old girl while serving as Governor of Trinidad at the turn of the 19th century.
The debate over the suitability of the monument has become more febrile in recent weeks following the removal of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol in June. A petition has been set up, protests have taken place at the foot of the monument, and a union has called for it to be immediately removed or altered so that it “no longer celebrates slavery”.
A debate has already been had and actioned upon in Cardiff, where the city council met and discussed the future of the Thomas Picton statue that stands inside City Hall.
On Thursday, 57 Cardiff councillors voted in favour to remove it, a decision which will be rubberstamped if permission is granted by Cadw – the Welsh Government’s historic environment service.
However, the statue had already, just hours after the vote, been removed from public view, with workers turning up at Cardiff’s City Hall on Friday morning to board it up.
In Carmarthen, any decision to remove or alter the monument is not expected to be made imminently, although Carmarthenshire councillors have voted in favour of a motion which makes clear the authority’s abhorrence of racism, prejudice and discrimination.
This includes the setting up of a “Task and Finish” group which could be formally established after a meeting of the council’s executive board tomorrow. One of the aims of this group will be to “work with the Welsh Government on their review of public monuments, with particular reference to Picton Monument”.
The council has not disclosed how the fate of the monument will be decided, be it a simple vote or the result of debates, or indeed how much guidance will be taken from public opinion, but one of the objectives of the “Task and Finish” group is “to engage with as wide a cross-section of the community as possible” over the future of the controversial obelisk.
The protocols and decision-making surrounding the potential removal or altering of the monument is one of the things that will be discussed by the group if it is set up following the executive meeting next week.
Whatever decision is made, whenever that may be, it is a debate that has split opinion in Carmarthen. Many have argued that Sir Thomas Picton – and the monument itself – is an important part of Welsh history; a history that cannot be altered.
Others disagree, calling on the council to take swift action, without the need to create a group to discuss the matter.
Writing an open letter to Carmarthenshire councillors, Mark Evans, on behalf of the Carmarthenshire branch of Unison, said: “It doesn’t need a ‘Task and Finish’ group to be set up to decide that the monument is oppressive, that it causes great distress to black people, and that it glorifies perpetrators of racism.”
Mr Evans also suggested that if the monument is to be altered rather than removed entirely it should instead celebrate the NHS and care workers who have “risked their lives to provide vital care to people during the Covid-19 crisis”.
“If Carmarthenshire council genuinely wants to do the right thing then they need to be open and transparent about when the decision to remove or alter the monument will be made and this needs to be in the near future,” he said.
The leader of Carmarthenshire council, Emlyn Dole, said the authority has given its support to the Black Lives Matter movement and has made a “clear and unequivocal statement that it abhors racism, prejudice and discrimination in any form”.
“The council agreed to establish a cross-party group to reach out and engage with Carmarthenshire’s BAME community and take their experiences and opinions on board, and also committed to undertaking a review of street names and public monuments, including the one to Thomas Picton in Carmarthen, to consider whether these are still appropriate today.”