Another visitor has posted a comment here....

Anonymous said...
I visited the statues a few weeks ago with the primary aim to take photo's before they are removed. I found them to be surreal, intriguing and very moving. I was so pleased to have such a good photo opportunity. I hope they do stay longer, especially now public awareness has been aroused. I'm sure due to the publicity it will encourage more visitor's to the city, and that can only be a positive aspect for the city.

comment

Another comment left this weekend............

I visited the statues a few weeks ago with the primary aim to take photo's before they are removed. I found them to be surreal, intriguing and very moving. I was so pleased to have such a good photo opportunity. I hope they do stay longer, especially now public awareness has been aroused. I'm sure due to the publicity it will encourage more visitor's to the city, and that can only be a positive aspect for the city.

comment

Another comment left this weekend............

I visited the statues a few weeks ago with the primary aim to take photo's before they are removed. I found them to be surreal, intriguing and very moving. I was so pleased to have such a good photo opportunity. I hope they do stay longer, especially now public awareness has been aroused. I'm sure due to the publicity it will encourage more visitor's to the city, and that can only be a positive aspect for the city.

sign the petition.....

An online petition in support of keeping Another Place on Crosby Beach has been launched....
CLICK HERE to sign it and leave your thoughts.

keeping their heads above water...for now

The future looks a little less uncertain for Another Place today, after Sefton Council announced that it will look into resolving the issues that led the planning committee to reject the planning application earlier in the week.

The news that the statues were to be removed at the end of October has caused a huge response from both the media and individuals both in Merseyside and around the world, lobbying to save the installation.

Antony Gormley himself has backed the idea of the men remaining at Crosby indefinitely, while the Liverpool Daily Post’s online poll currently stands at 91.15% in favour of the statues staying. The paper is running its own campaign to save Another Place, aiming to recruit a regiment of 100 notable supporters to help. Local girl Cherie Booth, Lloyd Grossman and Gormley himself have already signed up.

An appeal against the planning committee’s decision will now be launched, and should take about three months to be processed. The statues will stay where they are in the meantime. By then, the statues won't be able to be removed because of the winter tides, so they're likely to be at Crosby until March.

Another Place could also get a £1m boost from the government funding body, Northern Way. The money has been offered to secure the future of the installation, on condition that planning permission is obtained by the end of 2007, and that the remaining funds needed can be secured.

The iron men are standing firm for now, but what will the future hold? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment here.......

Do we need to chain ourselves to our chosen iron man just yet?

Keep the pressure on

... a comment was made to me earlier that this may galvanise the vocal majority to make themselves heard this time - well I had no idea that Another Place was in jeopardy until the crazed planning decision was made. Let's not assume everyone knows the statues are in jeopardy and let's keep the pressure on.

stay of execution

Yesterday it was announced that Sefton Council would not enforce the removal of the iron men on Halloween, but would allow them to stay whilst an appeal is processed. More details later...

Some comments left on this blog....

As usual those who oppose were more vocal than those who would like them to stay. The beach will continue to be a place for locals to visit and enjoy but what a lost opportunity for 2008 when many visitors to the City of Liverpool could have ventured further along the coast to visit Crosby beach to see the statues. SHAME ON YOU SEFTON COUNCIL!!!

Another place has been to other places and I believe that it was meant to be moved around the world. However, the statues have been a huge attraction and have put Crosby and indeed Merseyside on the map. New York doesn't need any more attractions. People go there in their millions and will continue to do so whether the Gormley's are there or not. But until the statues were there no-one outside Merseyside would have ever thought to visit Waterloo Beach.I must agree with Iain on the health & safety issues and I fail to see how a few statues interfere with birdwatching. Jet skiers and windsurfers are entitled to their hobbies but they could easily be given another zone in which to follow their chosen pursuits.The statues would have been a very valuable asset to the Capitol of Culture. It's a crying shame that they won't be there for 2008.It is very short-sighted to let them go. Lets have a campaign to bring them back.

I will be sad to see the statues go. I have been to Crosby beach about 6 times this year...having never previously been. Took my nephews aged 6 & 4 when they came over from Cyprus in the summer. It was their favourite bit of their trip to the UK.

Well, I'll be sad to see the Gormley's go as they looked stunning at Crosby. On the otherhand, I think it's great that this innovative idea for an art installation is shared with other cities in other countries for even more people to enjoy. You never know, one day they might end up back at Crosby...

Classic example of the nanny state. I think we should remove all lamp posts, telephone boxes, bins, post boxes. In fact remove anything that could cause someone, anyone to possibly, maybe endanger themselves in some way, some day.At least then, maybe we can all sleep at night knowing that windsurfers, bird watchers, and walkers need never worry about a collision with a clear and obvious stationary object. Great.

Obviously Im really sad to see the iron men leave our shores, but I think Iain (above) is missing the point about health and safety. Crosby beach at Brighton Le Sands does have some serious health and safety issues - soft mud, unpredictable tides and hidden channels. The beach managers have always had serious conerns about the statues being located there and the extra numbers of visitors to the beach. Whilst the 'collision with statues' stance may have made the news, I think there are far more serious underlying health and safety reasons for removing the men.

In response to the above, I think that a well used beach is a much safer place to be than a rarely used one. Since the beginning of time people have wondered further than they should and no doubt will again in the future. The fact that the Gormley's attracted visitors ensured there were always plenty of people patrolling the beach and surely that helped make it a safer place to be.

Another Place on YouTube

Another Place has been immortalised on YouTube.....
CLICK HERE to see the film.

another place..another time...another...

after yesterdays's very positive feature on another place in the guardian 2...talk about timing!...and the wonderful capital of culture poster campaign featuring the gormleys on the london underground and no doubt in other places as well..i fear for the fallout from this decision...liverpool may well be blamed (though of course this was a sefton council decision)...the capital of culture will have real problem trying to come up with something as memorable and popular both with us and across the world...and cynics will say...well, what do you expect...yet again on merseyside defeat is snatched from the jaws of victory...i really hope i am wrong about this.
(pic shows figures just before installation - a memorable and happy day)

emigration situation

The hundred iron men of Crosby beach look set to follow generations of emigrants from the Mersey estuary to the new world at the end of this month. The statues of Antony Gormley’s Another Place installation have lost their chance to stay on Merseyside after local council planners rejected a plea for a four-month stay of execution. Another Place will now relocate to New York, with the removal beginning on 30th October.

The fate of Crosby’s most famous residents hung in the balance until the very last moment, but the hammer fell on them at a raucous meeting last night. In a highly charged atmosphere, council planners bowed to pressure from an extremely vocal group of windsurfers and sea anglers, and ordered that the statues must be removed as originally planned.

It had been suggested that their tenure on the beach be extended, but the application was ultimately rejected on health and safety grounds, although the Marine Coastguard Agency stated that it had no objection to the extension, and the RNLI issued a statement saying that it was satisfied with the safety measures currently in place.

During the course of their time on Merseyside, the statues have become the focus of intense wrangling. On one side was the feeling that they provided a huge boost to Crosby and Merseyside, having encouraged visitors, and aroused local affection and pride. On the other, surfers and sea anglers felt that they were preventing the use of the beach for their hobbies. Campaigners looking to save the internationally-famous statues were asking for more time to clarify issues like the impact on bird life, maintenance procedures and safety issues.

Since they went on display in June 2005, the statues have helped to attract an estimated half million visitors to the Merseyside beach, and brought around £4 million to the local economy.

What do you think? Leave us a comment here, and we’ll post up all responses.