Margaret Thatcher is going to get a statue in Grantham, despite threats of vandalism, as proposals to construct a £30,000 statue in the ex-Tory PM’s home town where it was approved unanimously by a planning committee.
It will be put on a 10-foot high granite plinth due to concerns of a motivated far-left movement, who may be committed to public activism.
The statue was formerly planned for Parliament Square in Westminster, but instead, it will be placed at St Peter’s Hill in Baroness Thatcher’s home town of Grantham, Lincolnshire, a place those in support of the application said she had put into the worldwide consciousness.
Lincolnshire Police said they didn’t reject the application but asked the committee to be wary around the security of the statue, and concerns about the statue being vandalised were at the forefront of some of the councillors’ minds, with one implying the statue would be better placed in the middle of a pond to prevent people from climbing it.
South Kesteven District Council decided to dismiss objections from the public, which included the potential for crime and disorder, Mrs Thatcher’s divisive policies, and public cost implications. Currently, the only marking of Baroness Thatcher in the town is a plaque on the corner of North Parade and Broad Street to show where she was born.
The statue, standing just over 20ft high, will be located in between the two current statues in the area of Sir Isaac Newton and Frederick Tollemache. It was created by artist Douglas Jennings, but the statue was denied by Westminster Council with a report saying it could attract potential vandalism and civil disorder.
But the Lincolnshire-based council chose to give consent on the condition it is erected in the next three years, but a small number of Labour Party members from the area protested outside the Guildhall before the hearing, displaying banners such as Grantham Resident Against Maggie.
The plan had 17 objections and seven people writing in support, with those in support commenting on the possibility of an enhancement to Grantham’s tourist offer, and during the meeting, the committee’s chairman Councillor Martin Wilkins ventured to remind the panel they were a non-political body, to which one councillor replied: “This is a statue of Margaret Thatcher, how can it not be political?”
A report to the committee said: “In general, there remains a motivated far-left movement across the UK (though not so much in Lincolnshire) who may be committed to public activism.
“Margaret Thatcher does, however, maintain an element of emblematic significance to many on the left and the passage of time does seem to have diminished that intensity of feeling.”
Councillor Charmaine Morgan said she would not vote on the application and spoke against it, saying: “It is currently being held in an out of sight, secret location.
“Perhaps it should stay there.”
But those in support asked why it had taken so long for the statue to be brought to the town.
“Very few towns can claim a prime minister,” one supporter said, adding: “Grantham should be proud.”
Although we should question how the statue of the most vilified Prime Minister in living history will be protected, it will certainly be a tourist draw, with most people and sightseers thinking about how they can trash it, and I’m sure the statue of her will draw many pigeons that will defecate on her, similar to the way she defecated on the workers.
Once again nobody is taking any notice of what the public wants and they will still put this statue up of Margaret Thatcher, and then they will spend a fortune keeping it clean because one thing for sure, it will definitely be vandalised on a regular basis, why don’t they just put statues up of Myra Hindley and Ian Brady while they’re at it.
Not only that, whilst the public fund the police through their Council Tax, the green lights been given for this monstrosity to be put in within the next 3 years, even while austerity continues, what a misuse of taxpayers money on such an eyesore.
How about using the money on children in hospital or heating for old folks, you know something useful?
