Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Surprise in store for the thieves who took planter
THIEVES have stolen a boat planter that has been a feature of a West town for years. But if the light-fingered pilferers think they may be taking it for a sail, they will be disappointed – because there are two large drainage holes drilled in the bottom.
Men wearing fluorescent tabards were spotted removing the boat by passers-by in Clevedon on Tuesday afternoon. But because they looked ‘official’, no one reported the incident as odd.
The boat, at Tickenham Road, has been a feature of the town for several years and cared for by volunteers from the Rotary Club of Clevedon Yeo.
Each spring and summer it is planted up with colourful blooms, creating a floral display at one of the main entrances to the North Somerset town.
This year, the club overhauled the display after the previous wooden boat had started to fall into a state of disrepair. Members managed to obtain a boat from a local family – it had been used by the father, who had died.
The new fibreglass boat was repainted and the Rotary Club logo was put on the side.
It was put in place early last month, with volunteers filling it up with soil ready for planting.
They finished that job this week and had secured funds for the plants and appointed a local gardener to carry out the planting. But just hours after the final spades of soil had been shovelled in, it was stolen – in broad daylight.
Rotary Club spokesman Steve Molloy said: “It was looking lovely and was ready to plant. We left the boat at around 11am on Tuesday and by 4pm it was gone.”
A local woman said she saw two men wearing fluorescent tabards with a flat-bed truck removing the boat on Tuesday afternoon.
They were described as in their mid30s and of slim build.
“We checked with North Somerset Council and Clevedon Town Council to make sure they didn’t remove it for some reason,” said Mr Malloy. “But they didn’t. So it seems as if it has been stolen and we have reported the theft to police.
“Anyone stealing it hoping to sail it will be disappointed, though, as it has two fairly large holes drilled in the bottom for drainage. If they get in the water they will definitely sink.
“The family who donated the boat, which belonged to the father, are so upset,” added Mr Malloy. “It is coming up to the second anniversary of his death and they were looking forward to seeing it all planted up and ready for everyone to enjoy.”
The club is now appealing for anyone who may have dashcam footage or information about the theft to contact it or the police.
“It’s so disappointing,” said Mr Malloy. “The floral boat has been a feature of Clevedon for so many years and it really brightens one of the main entrances of the town.”
Anyone with information should call police on 101.
THE decision on whether to rename streets that are named in honour of slave traders from Bristol’s past should be up to the people who live there, not Government ministers or council chiefs.
That’s the view of the chair of Bristol’s History Commission, which was set up by mayor Marvin Rees to examine the city’s troubled history following the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston last June.
Prof Tim Cole, pictured, has made it clear that the intervention by the Government’s Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick in the debate was ‘unhelpful’.
Mr Jenrick announced a new policy to protect statues last month and took the opportunity to take a swipe at what he described as “town hall militants” and “woke worthies” who “have street names in their sights”.
He didn’t mention Bristol by name, and a similar debate is happening in other cities, notably London. But earlier this year, one local councillor in Bristol did support and submit a bid by the residents of two streets named after Edward Colston to have those names changed.
Residents of Colston Avenue and Colston Street pointed out that they had older, original medieval names, which had already been changed by Bristol’s ruling class in Victorian times as part of what became known as “the cult of Colston”. Local councillor Kye Dudd said he backed the move to restore the original names of Colston Street and Colston Avenue and would be putting the proposal to the History Commission to consider.
In response to Mr Jenrick’s apparent attack on that process, Prof Cole, of
Bristol University, said: “It should be up to people who live on those streets to decide – it is an uber-local issue.
“If a bunch of people who live on Colston Avenue want to change the name of their street they should be empowered to do so.
“These kinds of divisive phrases add to this sense of a culture war,” he told The Guardian. “We need a more thoughtful way to explore the past and think about the public realm. It is stoking fires that don’t need stoking.”
Another History Commission member, Prof Madge Dresser, said she feared the Government was trying to assert control over what happened in Bristol.
“It is a bid to control history and to bring these vital local decisions under the overcentralised and partisan grip of the Tory party,” she said. “Its tone is hectoring and needlessly divisive. It seems supported by those elements in the party whose grasp of history is at best traditionalist and at worst stone-cold ignorant.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government would not comment on the suggestion that the renaming of streets would be blocked.
“For hundreds of years, public statues and monuments have been erected across the country to celebrate individuals and great moments in British history,” they said. “Any removal should require planning permission and local people be given the chance to be properly consulted – that’s why we are changing the law to protect historic monuments.”