‘Mural battle gave rise to talks about Welsh history’
A HOMEOWNER said her battle with a council over a mural on the side of her home led to “important” conversations about Welsh history.
The local authority has now said it does not currently intend to take further action over Sian Thomas-Ford’s mural on the side of her property in Maesteg, which it had previously ordered her to remove.
With the help of friends and family, she had painted the words “Cofiwch Dryweryn” on the side of her home in 2019, in memory of the controversial flooding of Capel Celyn in 1965.
The village was flooded to build a reservoir in the Tryweryn Valley that would supply water to Liverpool.
When it was first painted, the mural contained the words “Yes Cymru” written in a smaller font underneath “Cofiwch Dryweryn”. Yes Cymru is a political campaign group for Welsh independence.
The words “Yes Cymru” were later removed and two dragons were added to the design, inspired by stories from the Mabinogion, a collection of medieval Welsh folk tales.
Bridgend council told Ms ThomasFord she could be prosecuted if she did not paint over the mural last summer. The council’s planning application fees for adverts range from £120 to £460.
She said she has “no intentions whatsoever” of painting over the mural.
Despite the council’s legal threat making her feel “anxious” last year, she said her dispute with the authority has caused people to come and look at the artwork, which led to important discussions with locals about Welsh history and culture.
This was what she wanted to achieve with the mural in the first place.
“A lot of people have been asking questions about it. So people are being educated about this part of our history as well.
“We’ve also had little boys coming and asking what the dragons are about.
“We’ve been having lots of conversations around things people didn’t know anything about before.”
Almost 3,000 people signed a petition in support of keeping the mural, which Ms Thomas-Ford said was “fabulous”. She said she was “really pleased” by the support she has received from people of “all age groups”.
Her battle with the council over the issue has been ongoing for more than two years, but now it seems the mural is likely to stay, with no further action taken.
In September 2019, the authority sent her a letter stating the mural is an advert and their highways department found the mural is a “distraction to drivers”.
Ms Thomas-Ford received another letter from the council in July 2020 stating that she would be taken to court if the mural was not painted over within 21 days.
In August, the council reviewed the matter and found the mural no longer posed a potential distraction to drivers but was still an advert. Ms Thomas-Ford was told to apply for retrospective planning permission for the piece to remain.
At the time, she told the Local
Democracy Service she had no intention of applying for planning permission because she does not believe the piece is an advert, but rather a celebration of Welsh history.
Ms Thomas-Ford said she has heard nothing from the council since last year and she intends to keep the mural, which she maintains is not an advert.
A council spokesman said the authority has made “no further developments” on the issue since last year, because “the pandemic largely meant everything had to be reprioritised”.
The spokesman added: “From the council’s perspective, advertising consent is required to protect the householder, but we do not currently intend to take any further action.
“It remains open to the owner if they wish to regularise the matter.”