Buller statue will stay put
EXETER’S General Buller statue will not be moved from its current location, after councillors unanimously supported withdrawing potential relocation plans.
The statue of General Sir Redvers Buller and his horse, Biffen, stands on the corner of New North Road and Hele Road, outside the entrance to Exeter College. It was erected back in 1905.
Councillors in January had backed a formal consultation over the future of the statue but, in February, Exeter City Council’s executive overturned that decision and recommended to full council that no application for listed building consent for relocation should be made and that formal consultation over the future of the statue should not take place.
It followed comments by Robert Jenrick MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, who made it clear such applications are unlikely to be successful.
Exeter City Council’s full council, when they met on Tuesday, unanimously supported the executive’s recommendation not to submit a planning relocation and to drop any proposals to relocate the statue.
The Government had recently revealed plans for a new law on cultural and historic heritage which will “make clear that historic monuments should be retained and explained’.
It would give the Secretary of State power to call in any application and ensure the law is followed, and Tuesday’s meeting heard it was considered unlikely that any bid to move to Buller statue would be successful;
The council also unanimously supported other recommendations that the executive had made back in January over the future of the statue, in that the portfolio holder for culture and communities should establish a working group to develop an anti-racism strategy for the Council.
An arts-based engagement project with residents is also set to be established, through a public art working group in conjunction with the University of Exeter and Exeter Culture, to consider the role of public art and create a new public art strategy in the city.
Temporary information boards are still set to be erected near to the statue, while consideration is set to be given to whether the statement “He saved Natal” on the plinth should be removed.
The statue was paid for by money raised by the people of Devon and unveiled on ‘Buller Day’ in 1905. It is currently situated on land owned by Devon County Council, with the monument itself maintained by the city council.
Buller served in Canada, China and, most famously, in South Africa during the Zulu Wars. It was here an operation led by him went wrong and he had to withdraw under intense fire. The statue has previously been vandalised by protestors.
AN Exeter man challenged by armed police five times while carrying his beloved novelty umbrella has taken to eBay to get rid of it – on the orders of his other half.
Last month, Mike Devlin went by train from Newcourt to Exmouth to do some shopping when, upon his return, he found himself surrounded by police.
They had been informed by a member of the public that a person had been spotted with a samurai sword.
When the ‘sword’ was discovered to be an umbrella with a samurai sword handle, it was seized by police and Mike was able to continue his journey home.
Despite previously stating he had hoped to keep the brolly, Mike says that he has been forced to sell the novelty umbrella on eBay as he has now been challenged by armed police five times – due to them believing it was a deadly weapon.
The 50-year-old says members of the public have repeatedly reported him, after spotting the handle of his brolly.
Mike says that, although he is now used to guns being pointed at him following the brolly incidents, his partner has now ordered him to get rid of it.
He has listed the item on the auction site under the banner of Britain’s ‘most troublesome brolly’.
Mike said he had hoped for a bidding war but, two days into the listing, the price stands at just over £2.
He said: “I got it back after I received a call from Exeter’s armed response unit, and sure enough, a couple of hours later, an armed officer handed it back.
“He advised me that whilst I am doing nothing wrong, I really shouldn’t be carrying it over my shoulder. He said it only takes one person to tackle you and you fight back, and we mistakenly shoot you.
“So, it’s with regret I’m selling it, not least because my other half would prefer it if I didn’t come home dead.”
On the eBay listing, Mike states: “I love this umbrella, had it for ages, but sadly I need to get rid of it.”
He adds: “I can vouch for it – it’s a really strong umbrella and never breaks – but it’s not a deadly weapon.
Mike bought the umbrella in Germany in 2010 for £40 and had no idea of the trouble it would go on to cause.
Flash points over the years have seen him questioned at the airport on his return to England, and confronted by police as he sat on Exeter’s Cathedral Green and in a Wetherspoons pub. Police even closed a road after he was spotted walking with it.