Mayor hits back at rejection of sculpture plans
MACCLESFIELD Town Council has reacted to news its bid to have a 7m sculpture of a bobbin placed in a public park was turned down.
A planning application for the monument was refused by a Cheshire East Council planning committee with concerns raised over its size.
It was also said that there were reservations over links to an authoritarian regime in China that has a poor human rights record.
But the town council says the sculpture is a gift by artist Jian Jun Xi, chair of the UK Chinese Arts Association, so should not be associated with the country’s government.
He was born in the Chinese silk town of Suzhou and was inspired by the similarities between the heritage of Macclesfield and his hometown.
The sculpture, which was earmarked for Sparrow Park, is an interpretation of a silk bobbin.
It has a map of historic Silk Road trading route around it as Macclesfield is seen as the western end of it and Xi’an, in China, the eastern end.
Councillor Sarah Bennett-Wake, Mayor of Macclesfield, acknowledged art is subjective but says silkrelated attractions are popular with visitors to Macclesfield of Chinese heritage.
The sculpture was set to go on tour in China before being placed in the town to build up interest.
Coun Bennett-Wake said: “In a post Brexit world, it is important that we engage and work with other cultures and countries for economic stability, indeed growth and prosperity.
“This kind gift signifies the importance of history but also the relationship of the future.
”It is important that we recognise the need for these relationships and the careful cultivation of them to affect future prosperity and social change through education.
“Macclesfield Town Council takes on board the residents’ comments about the size and location of the bobbin and will carefully consider what to do next with the kind offer of a gift for the town.”