Northern Beaches community outrage sees council’s COVID sculpture cancelled
A sculpture commemorating COVID-19 which could cost a Sydney council up to $1.7 million was met with fierce public backlash. Now the council has made a decision on the project’s future.
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A million-dollar coronavirus sculpture plan on the Northern Beaches has been quashed after weeks of community backlash.
The Northern Beaches Council proposed to build an artwork on the Manly to Palm Beach Coastal Walk to help the community “reflect on and to understand” the COVID-19 pandemic, which could cost up to $1.7 million from the council’s merger savings fund.
After locals blasted the project online and a petition collected more than 3,000 signatures, Northern Beaches Mayor Michael Regan shared a statement on Facebook on Wednesday confirming the council would look to cancel the sculpture.
Deputy mayor Candy Bingham told The Daily Telegraph the sculpture was initially a “well intentioned idea” which had to be scrapped after it was “distorted” by public outcry.
“It was a well intentioned idea which unfortunately got translated in the wrong way and became a COVID memorial. It was never intended to be a memorial to COVID,” Ms Bingham said.
“There was a lot of negative feedback … the concept got distorted so unfortunately we had to cancel this particular theme but there is still funding to do another artwork in future.”
The artwork had a minimum spend of $100,000 and was initially proposed by Northern Beaches councillor Penny Philpott as a way to reinvigorate the area’s arts community following the pandemic’s impact.
A rescission notice to scrap the project was defeated in early June but another motion to cancel it for good will be put forward in three months’ time and is expected to pass.
Northern Beaches councillor Vincent De Luca was one of several councillors who led the charge against the sculpture and welcomed the move to abandon the “exceptionally insensitive” project.
“It’s definitely (a relief), it certainly shows the community can’t be fooled and they won’t tolerate misuse of their money for, dare I say it, vested interests,” Mr De Luca said.
“Local government is here to serve and listen. Sometimes we might not want criticism but we have to take that on-board and approach everything with a fair open mind.”