A SCULPTURE trail consisting of six artworks is planned as part of plans to breathe new life into a stretch of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal.
Councillors on Sefton’s planning committee have approved a proposal for the first of the six artworks, entitled Carrying Star, which will be located in Rimrose Valley in Netherton.
The £90,000 project, known as the Plantlife Sculpture Trail, was masterminded by South Sefton Development Trust, together with artists from Safe Productions.
It will be partly funded with a £50,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the remainder will come from public funds.
The six artworks, which will relate to the history of the South Sefton area, will run along the canal from the Sefton border to Rimrose Valley.
The Carrying Star installation, which takes the form of 12 stainless steel stars fixed to support arms, is three metres wide and 1.1m high.
It is based on the local shoreline and historical planting of “star grass” by lords of the manor in the 18th century.
Peasants found stealing the grass or “carrying star” would face harsh punishments.
The sculpture was designed in consultation with children from Hatton Hill School in Litherland.
Another of the six artworks, to be placed near Millers Bridge, is entitled Adeiladu – Build and it celebrates the area’s little-known Welsh population of the 1700s.
John Fairclough, chairman of South Sefton Development Trust, said: “We’ve seen the benefits community artwork projects can have on regeneration of an area.
“ We’re particularly keen on involving local people and making the canal more accessible to them.”
The proposal has met with opposition from residents in Brindley Close, whose properties back on to the site.
They say the artwork will increase existing anti-social behaviour in the area.
Concerns over the impact of the Carrying Star on the canal, water voles and breeding birds has been raised by planning officers.
However, a water vole survey found there were no voles on the eastern bank, where the sculpture will stand, and that consequently no further action was required.
Officers have advised the applicants to outline how they intend preventing water pollution and have asked that, in order to protect bird life, there should be no tree, scrub or hedgerow felling until autumn.
If they are all given the go-ahead, the six artworks are to be completed by the end of the year.
SOUTH Sefton Development Trust has championed public artwork in the borough, bringing Antony Gormley’s famous Iron Men to Crosby beach in 2005.
It has set up an office at 72-74 Stanley Road, Bootle, where it will be based until it moves into South Sefton Investment Centre, a five-storey building under construction in Bootle town centre, on its completion next year.
To contact South Sefton Development Trust, call 0151-934 5186.
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