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Wooden animals come to Sutton High Street

9:12am Wednesday 1st September 2010 in


Fourteen wooden animal play seats have appeared in the High Street this week.

According to the council, the wooden seats were “creatively” carved into the shape of creatures to appeal to younger visitors to the town centre.

Kids from Manor Park Children’s Centre and Shanklin Children’s Centre gave names to the play benches before they were installed So animals such as Ninja the duck; Sparkles the swan; Olivia the pony; Terri the snail; Sonic the frog and Charlie the chicken will now take up residence on the High Street.

Councillor Jayne McCoy, the council’s planning spokesman, said: “We can be proud to have a high street that will look a bit different and reflects the green living local people love.”

The designs were drawn up following extensive consultation with the Sutton Town Centre Partnership.

Have you seen the new sculptures? What do you think of them? A good idea or an eyesore? Use the form below to let us know...

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Comments(15)

Angela M says...
12:05pm Wed 1 Sep 10

I wonder how long they'll last...

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LiberalsOut says...
1:18pm Wed 1 Sep 10

Last night they were behind railings by Waterstones and Chicago's so not quite ready for sitting on yet !!!

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theavengers says...
1:43pm Wed 1 Sep 10

I wish those strange people of our council would stop making such stupid decisions with our money and then having the gaul to say it's what we want. These "things" will rot in the rain and already look like crap (the words of a 7 year old who, also, supposedly likes this sort of thing if you believe the council.) When our hospitals and schools are crumbling, they spend our money on wood carvings and straw huts---like the little piggies, straw huts don't last. It's just another insult to us. NO THANKS SUTTON COUNCIL!!!!!!!!!!!

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gbzgc says...
1:48pm Wed 1 Sep 10

Has the council gone absolutely barking mad? In case they had not noticed, there is a recession on and they are (evidently)having to cut services so how on earth can they justify this absolute rubbish. I hear this has cost us £25k !!!!!! Councillor Jane McCoy must be living in a complete fantasy world and does not deserve to hold the office of Councillor. Come in to the real world jane.

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David7 says...
1:57pm Wed 1 Sep 10

This is lunacy, bordering on misfeasance in public office.

Moreover, why is the Guardian simply regurgitating a Sutton Council press release without challenging any of the statements? Who exactly did Sutton Council consult about this?

Come on guys, it's about time you started earning your keep and calling local politicians to task for nonsensical town planning like this.

Next, I'm looking forward to the vertical lawn that's going to be attached to Wilkinsons... yes, it's really happening.

You couldn't make it up.

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Michael Pantlin says...
3:10pm Wed 1 Sep 10

Suggest renaming Sutton Council Barking Council.

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LiberalsOut says...
4:43pm Wed 1 Sep 10

I think those of us who regularly contribute to these pages should stand as Independents at the next election and try and get these loonies out.Another crazy thing I saw - at the entrance to Manor Park is a sign saying that you can be fined up to £500 for drinking in the park and right by it is an application for a licence at the Straw Folly.So they sell you a drink and then fine you £500????

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theavengers says...
5:45pm Wed 1 Sep 10

LiberalsOut--very well put. All of us posting here so far are spot on, we didn't vote for this, we must live in a borough with a majority of lunatics. We have to get this council out.

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David7 says...
1:34pm Thu 2 Sep 10

... and now we discover that these rather rustically-hewn, crudely-modelled animal sculptures cost £750 each.

How on earth can these cost £750 each?

Thanks for wasting even more of my money, Sutton Council. Your profligacy appears to know no bounds, and your justification for such spending reeks of the politics of delusion.

It's a shame you don't come up with rubbish like this just before an election, rather than just after.

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Michael Pantlin says...
6:05pm Thu 2 Sep 10

Just showed this lot to JC of Sutton who is not online. His comment about the vertical lawn up the side of Wilkinson's is "Pity the poor b*****d who's got to mow it!"

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adrianshort says...
11:46pm Thu 2 Sep 10

How refreshing to see a new public art commission avoid so many of the tropes and pitfalls of the genre: bombastic nostalgia, trite abstraction and a fixation with the transient rather than the transcendental.

None of that here. Instead, these workmanlike, rough-hewn creatures come alive in the unlikely habitat of a suburban shopping precinct. The whimsical sense of scale is both exhilarating and a little disorienting, leavened by the playful assemblage of the menagerie. The mute ****, the fish caught on dry land, the burdened snail: all seem transfixed at being uprooted from their world into ours.

As young Arcadian shepherds confidently mount the creatures, we see how the insertion of the viewer into the scene completes the work, unambiguously asserting man's hegemony over beast. The performance reflects not so much contemporary environmental concerns but our perennial discomfort with our superior place in the natural order.

Whether shopping or shepherding, the work stands as a propitious reminder that beneath the freshly-laid cobblestones lies the soil to which all life ultimately returns.

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Michael Pantlin says...
9:08pm Sat 4 Sep 10

This money would have been better spent on real animals. The PDSA could have provided a lot of treatment for sick animals for the 14x£750.

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col says...
4:31pm Tue 7 Sep 10

Well, they wouldn't look out of place in a beer garden....

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Michael Pantlin says...
2:32pm Thu 9 Sep 10

I enjoyed reading the nicely written and keenly observed appreciation by adrianshort. The transendental as he points out is certainly not overlooked by our Council whose whimsical projects reflect their own distinctive brand of transendmental dedication achieved I would guess by their ideas people taking transendmental medication.

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overthemoon says...
5:51pm Thu 30 Sep 10

I visisted Sutton today and was astounded at the poor workmanship and awful design of the High Street. The new paving brinks are badly laid and I cannot see the point of renewing them in the first place. Strange seating have been erected and I notice a very strange discoloration beneath all the seats - looks like rust. Different surfaces have been cobbled together making the whole place look a terrible mess. As for the 'sculptors' well there are no words to describe! Perhaps we could send the developers to Europe to see how it's done. Maybe not, even more tax payers money for a free trip. Even if this was done very well and looked fantastic, how are we going to stop the public spitting out chewing gum, cigarettes and rubbish. Seems an awful waste of money which could have been used to help hospitals, schools etc.

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