Street art walls proposed around Castle Sports Complex

The proposed locations for Spalding’s new street art walls have been announced along with the initial ideas on their designs.

A design promoting the environment is being readied for six to eight panels on the Castle Sports Complex over-looking the car park in Westlode Street, a meeting of Spalding Town Forum has been told.

The former toilets behind the bowling green, closer to the dry-side of the complex, is also being proposed for a location, with a design focusing on mental health intended to be the first allocated design.

Working with local artists including Karl Barfoot and Adam Sadd, South Holland District Council has drawn up a Street Art policy to ensure that the practice is legal and doesn’t justify graffiti.

Coun Paul Redgate, who is leading a task group created to oversee it, said: “We’ve worked closely to ensure the policy suits what we are looking for as a district.

“We want to ensure this is what people want us to take on board and deliver but want to make sure it’s relevant.

“The individuals concerned want it to be a success as they want to try and spread the word about how positive an area this will be and the impact of engaging with issues of the moment.

“The idea is we hope people doing it are going to do it periodically, change it and update it. We want people to embrace the positives of this in all the area’s towns. We want to spread street art as a positive through the district as a whole.”

Coun Roger Gambba-Jones said: “It all looks very exciting and looks like they’ve spent a lot of time and given it a lot of thought. It looks very well constructed.”

But the policy wasn’t universally well received.

“I think it’s a dreadful, dreadful idea,” Coun Christine Lawton said. “Banksy’s work is overtly political.

“Who’s to make the decision that’s suitable, permissible and what’s acceptable to South Holland?

“Suppose someone goes on to Stepping Stone bridge and that lovely nice white thing and does the most beautiful artwork with a train?

“Are we going to say ‘no, you have to go and do it on the toilets’.”