Cheo and 3-Dom at work..

Bristol City Council have issued an apology of sorts. See below:

“We would like to apologise for the removal of a mural in Stokes Croft by our graffiti clean up team. The mural was removed following a complaint to the council from a member of the public. However, as this mural was on a privately owned building, the council should have made contact with the owner first to seek permission before removing it and this was unfortunately not done. We will be speaking to the owner to explain the situation and to discuss how the error can be put right.”

As Bristol City Council are fully aware, this mural was organised by PRSC, since they were informed of its legality by ourselves on the Friday before its unfortunate removal.

In all contact with the Council, the owner has consistently referred them to PRSC. We have heard nothing…

This is no surprise, and indeed, we would very much like to extend the olive branch to the Council, and would welcome discussions on the way forward…

However, the owner reports that last week, BCC contacted his agents to request permission to remove the “Council Vandalism” piece. The owner referred them to ourselves… Still we heard nothing…

The following day, the owner was contacted again by BCC. This time they informed him that he required planning permission to paint on the front of his boarded up shop, and that the “Council Vandalism” piece was therefore illegal…

Perhaps we need clarification on the planning regulations… Surely BCC were not attempting to exert undue pressure on our heroic property owner, who has once again referred BCC to ourselves for discussion.

PRSC would like to issue an open invitation to Jan Ormondroyd to come and have a cup of tea with us in Stokes Croft, and to help us to build a Stokes Croft of which the city can be truly proud.