Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council is to spend £3,500 putting its crest on the side of the town’s new theatre, even though the authority will cease to exist in less than a year.
Council leaders said the one-metre square crest, which is being installed as public art - a planning requirement - would ensure the council left its mark on the £28 million development in Frankwell.
It also meant the authority’s work on the project would be remembered for years to come.
The council will cease to exist in April when a unitary authority takes control of Shropshire.
Councillor Charles Armstrong, portfolio holder for capital projects, said that without the borough council the development would never have been built.
He said the crest, featuring the familiar three loggerheads and the Latin inscrip- tion “Floreat Salopia” - meaning “May Shropshire Flourish”, would reflect the history of the town and the council’s involvement.
“We will leave our mark,” said Councillor Armstrong.
“In the last four or five years Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council has transformed the town trying to make it more vibrant, cosmopolitan and forward-looking rather than a sleepy market town on the way down in the world.
“The important thing is that people remember SABC were responsible.”
Council architect Geoff Trantham said the £3,500 crest was a piece of public art required as a condition of planning permission.
He said another piece of public art was being considered for the towpath but no decision on its form had been taken.
Councillor Armstrong said improvements would be carried out to the towpath to create a “theatre promenade” linking the development to the river and featuring lighting and soft landscaping.
Labour councillor Joyce Allaway said she believed the council should be remembered.
She said: “If there is nothing else to commemorate Shrewsbury and Atcham I think it is a good idea that there should be something.
“If they are going to do it it needs to be a quality one and £3,500 seems like a lot of money but the building is go- ing to be there for a long long time. I wouldn’t object to it.”
13 Comments
Nice work if you can get it!
Long live the pigs in the trough.
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That REALLY does say it all.
Its a great wonder that SABC didn’t spend the same amount on a banner on the Market Hall clock tower saying ‘WE HAVE JUST GIVEN SABC COUNCILLORS £316,000 IN EXPENSES’.
Thank God (if I can still say that)that I came to live in a country that doesnt and never will have stupidity and wastage of public money such as this.
And on a final note let me tell Shropshire Star readers this: We in our village have just called a halt on local Municipality (Authority)expenditure on the erection of new road signs in our village and opted instead to repaint them with the help of a local painter & decorator who is doing it as a thank you to the Municipality for being able to reduce council tax this year from €173 to €164 - YES for the WHOLE year.
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Shame to waste all that money when it could have been used to pay for 3 weeks worth of road closures for the football ground.
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If the council have got money to waste, why not use it to reduce the council tax that we pay
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well done another own goal S & A council, i think the score must by now be 0-30
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if the council has this money to burn why not spend it wisely like contributing to the re-opening of the shrewsbury arm of the shropshire union canal, yes they can even have their own canoe with badges all over.
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Yup, you’ll leave your mark alright - on two absolute eyesores which will prove a legacy of this disgraceful waste of council tax payers money (Theatre and Council Offices). Why not waste a little bit more showing us for a long time to come who exactly is to blame.
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What another stunnning move by the jokers at SABC.
Unfortunately as it sounds, motorists will have time to admire it while they wait in the town gridlock - the money would perhaps have been better spent by sacking the team at the Guildhall!
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Let’s just look on it as a gravestone of someone we would rather forget, the good news is depending on where it is situated on the building you will be given an opportunity to dance on it..so it’s not all bad news then,
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According to what it’s made of, when this stupid crest plaque is removed, can I ask that SABC please make sure it’s put into the correct bin.
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I thought that the NSDC were as bad as it could possibly get.
SABC are clearly trying very hard to hit rock bottom, having succeeded many of the councillors have now started digging.
If the councillors wish to remembered for this building perhaps they should stick their hands in their own pockets to pay, rather than sticking their hands in the rate payer’s pockets.
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The time is rapidly approaching when Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council really will have to look seriously at how unpopular it is with the vast majority of Shrewsbury residents and business people. Take this debate for example - not a single compliment but instead consistent and bitter criticism of an authority that long ago lost it’s way (not all these people can be wrong.
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With a income of £3m last year for parking in Shrewsbury why not finish the job with a sign costing a paltry £3.5k?
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