New Sculpture in town.

Thus sculpture in the centre of Saint Austell will be officially unveiled tomorrow.

I hope they will remove the horrid grey barriers at the base.

It’s part of a project to rejuvenate Saint Austell and cost £90,000. Locals are complaining about council tax money being wasted but it was funded by organisations linked to the Arts Council. The fuss about it even made the national Guardian yesterday.

What no one seems to have commented on is the decision as to where to site it.

It’s supposed to be the tallest sculpture made from clay in the country and is the size of two double-decker buses piled on end. (Sizes of things are often related to either double-decker buses or football pitches!).

But when you look up at it it makes you very aware of the bleakness of the quite tall buildings surrounding it. Grey concrete, and from one angle a faded poster that says ‘Building Saint Austell better.’

So the surrounding of the sculpture look very rundown.

The local MP, who is not popular with many , has refused to officiate at the unveiling. He doesn’t like it.

I feel that locals weren’t involved in decisions about the actual sculpture or where it was cited but it was just foisted upon Saint Austell. They say there was consultation but I wasn’t asked :-) It’s supposed to be partly about a celebration of Saint Austell with its clay foundations.

Yet people who live here tend to be more interested in the nearby beaches and gardens and can’t particularly relate to the clay.

There are many ugly disused clay piles around Saint Austell and that is surely enough of a reminder of Saint Austell’s history!