MEMBERS of Andover Town Council have discussed a proposed dormouse sculpture, set to be erected in Picket Piece.

As previously reported, following consultation with residents and community groups, artist Svetlana Kondakova has lodged an application with Test Valley Borough Council to erect the sculpture on community land on Locksbridge Road, by Picket Piece Sports Ground.

The sculpture would be four metres long, 2.1 metres wide and 1.32 metres tall above ground level, and would have a variety of children’s drawings and historic maps of the area engraved upon it.

At a meeting of the ATC planning committee on Monday (April 25), members submitted no official objection to the plans, but expressed their distaste for the design chosen.

Cllr Luigi Gregori said: “I think this is complete waste of money, but if people decided to go down that route then [I have] no objection.”

Cllr Barbara Long said that the idea behind the statue was to represent the fact that the Picket Piece area is home to a dormouse colony.

She added: “If I am honest, I didn’t think much of it when I saw it, but otherwise I have no objections.”

READ MORE: Designs for proposed dormouse sculpture near sports ground in Andover unveiled

In 2021 TVBC advertised a commission for an artist to create a bespoke artwork for the development site. A selection panel comprising of TVBC Arts Officer, community development officer, local residents and councillors shortlisted and interviewed a number of artists. Svetlana Kondakova was chosen to undertake the commission.

The resulting design is for a dormouse made of aluminium, reinforced with fibreglass and steel supports on the inside, with weatherproof paint.

Children’s artworks, recreated by layering two sheets of aluminium, will be indented in the sculpture’s surface. Maps of Picket Piece from 1897, 1958 and 2022 are to be engraved into the aluminium surface and accentuated with black paint.

The plans for the sculpture will now be considered by the TVBC planning committee. To view the application in full, visit view-applications.testvalley.gov.uk and use reference 22/00925/FULLN.

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