Bristol Council Paints Over Legal Street Piece
The work carried out by Cheo and 3Dom was organised by the People’s Republic Of Stokes Croft. With permission being granted by the property’s owner the piece was put together to promote Stokes Croft as an outdoor gallery. To prevent any issues the council were informed of the new legal mural, yet days later the piece was painted over. This of course angered those involved as well as many street art fans across Bristol. The space is now evolving into something more, opening discussion on the council’s graffiti policies.
Clearly angered the PRSC sought after support from the local community that could see the injustice. The PRSC writing “Voice your protest” over the newly cleaned wall. This led to a number of angry emails being sent to the Chief Executive of Bristol City Council, Jan Ormondroyd.
Ormondroyd responded to the reaction with the following:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the mural in Stokes Croft.
I have looked into the matter thoroughly and have issued the following official statement to publicly apologise for the mistake.
I would like to thank you again for taking the time to contact me and I would like to assure you that Bristol City Council takes
this matter very seriously and are committed to putting it right.Yours sincerely
Jan Ormondroyd
Chief Executive———
Statement from Bristol City CouncilWe would like to apologise for the removal of a mural in Stokes Croft by our graffiti clean up team.
The mural was removed following a complaint to the council from a member of the public.
However, as this mural was on a privately owned building, the council should have made contact with the owner first to seek permission before removing it and this was unfortunately not done.
We will be speaking to the owner to explain the situation and to discuss how the error can be put right.
The BCC mentioning here that they “should have” confirmed the removal with the owner beforehand. By painting over the wall without permission they have undertaken the same act as the trouble graffiti artists they try to deter. Interestingly the BCC in apoligising for their mistake have promised to make things right.
Soon we’ll find out what the BCC’s response will be but in the mean time, what do you think the BCC should do?
How can the BCC improve their policies on graffiti?
Source: Bristol Graffiti
