Kiddey Stones council relocation consultation set to end

A public consultation on plans to move 12 stone sculptures in a Nottinghamshire town is set to close.

The Kiddey Stones, designed by Nottingham-born sculptor Robert Kiddey, were originally installed at Wilford Power Station.

After the power station was demolished in the 1980s they were moved to Newark Cemetery, where they have been kept out of public view.

Newark and Sherwood District Council wants to spend £81,240 moving the newly-restored works to outside the council headquarters, which it says will be the start of an art trail in the town.

Kiddey moved to Newark in 1931 and produced a wide variety of artworks, some of which were exhibited alongside work by Pablo Picasso.

The Kiddey Stones are made up of 12 pieces of stone, each forming four panels depicting a different aspect of electricity production, from miners to pylon builders.

A consultation was opened by the district council on 3 September, and closes on Monday.

The money for the project includes engineering work to add a steel frame and pins and then set the stones in concrete.

The money would come from an existing budget for cultural projects.

Councillor Rowan Cozens, portfolio holder for heritage, culture and the arts, said the "absolutely magnificent" sculptures would bring in visitors to Newark and inspire children, adding they "need to be in a place that can accommodate them and where they can be seen".

"They celebrate all of the skills and the trades that go into electricity production," she said.

"To get up close and see what somebody can produce out of a piece of stone is remarkable.

"These come from a time when we celebrated the workers - the East Midlands is a industrial part of the UK, [and] the work of these people is what built the region."